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Evaluation of conductive cooling of lactating dairy cows under controlled environmental conditions
In our effort to find more sustainable and efficient ways to cool dairy cows, we conducted an experiment to evaluate conductive cooling in 3 different environments—hot dry, hot humid, and thermoneutral—and 2 types of bedding material—sand and dried manure. Cold water (7°C) passed continuously through heat exchangers buried 25 cm below the deep bed’s surface to effectively decrease the bed’s temperature. In conclusion, sand was a better alternative when heat exchangers were used on dairy cows housed in heat-stress environments.