Thermotolerance in cows: cellular and physiological approaches

• Grant number: 09/00462-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: November 01, 2009
• End date: July 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Ecology of Domestic Animals and Ethology
• Principal Investigator: Evaldo Antonio Lencioni Titto
• Grantee: Ana Carina Alves Pereira de Mira Geraldo
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZEA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Pirassununga , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This study will have as principal aim studying and quantifying the behavior and thermometric variation of cows from different adaptives origins submitted to fixed-time artificial insemination, with access to shade, managed in the field, doing the registration of the behavioral and physiological responses triggered by high air temperatures in summer, and its effects on the rate of development, seeking to present viable solutions to increase productivity. The breeds Nelore and Limousin will be evaluated in Brazil, and the Limousin breed and Mertolenga breed in Portugal. The experimental phase will be developed in 4 locations: the Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos, of Universidade de São Paulo (FZEA / USP) in Pirassununga - Brazil, using 50 Nelore cows; the Fazenda São Leopoldo in Descalvado - Brazil, with 50 cows of the Limousin breed; the Herdade das Fontainhas in Odemira - Portugal, also with 50 Limousin females; and the Herdade da Contenda located in Barrancos - Portugal, with 50 female of the Mertolenga breed. In each one of the locations will be held 4 steps to which the animals are subjected. The first step is the tolerance to heat test, which aims to assess the relationship between the physiological and behavioral parameters and indices of tolerance to heat. As a second step, behavioral records will be made every 15 minutes for 13 consecutive hours, using the methods of focal-sampling and interval recording. In the third stage the females will be submitted to in estrus synchronization so that artificial insemination can be performed at fixed time. Twenty-one days after artificial insemination will be the last step which is the diagnosis of pregnancy by ultrasound.

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

GERALDO, Ana Carina Alves Pereira de Mira. Thermotolerance in cows: cellular and physiological approaches. 2013. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Zootecnica e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZE/BT) Pirassununga.