Effect of artificial shade on thermoregulatory response and weight gain in confined buffaloes

• Grant number: 07/02352-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2007
• End date: June 30, 2008
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agricultural Engineering - Rural Buildings and Ambience
• Principal Investigator: Kelly Botigeli Sevegnani
• Grantee: Ana Flávia Garcia Moraes
• Host Institution: Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Registro. Registro , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Ribeira Valley has the lowest indexes of development of the State of São Paulo. The economy is based mainly on agriculture (banana, tea and buffalos), mining and vegetal extractivism (palm heart). The buffaloes production for meat and milk contribute as an important source of income to the small farmers. The Ribeira Valley represents the biggest remaining area of Atlantic Forest of the country and it has hot and humid climate, without dry station during the year. Because this, the thermal comfort in the spring and summer are affected. There are few studies of termorregulatories variables, thermal comfort and well-being in buffaloes approaching conditions of the producing regions, as Ribeira Valley. On this way, the objective of this work was to evaluate the variation of respiratory frequency of confined buffaloes submitted to direct insolation or artificial shade. Also, a thermal comfort index for the conditions of Ribeira Valley will be developed, from measures of ambient variable such as dry and humidity bulb temperature, wind speed and black globe temperature in shaded and non-shaded places, beyond the physiological variables, respiratory frequency and the mean temperature of the skin.