Abstract

Body covers are used on dairy stock in an attempt to increase production by reducing the amount of energy required for thermoregulation. Experiments were undertaken to determine the production response to covering calves, yearlings and cows at several sites representing different climatic conditions of the dairying districts of New Zealand. Calves (n=435) were randomly allocated to covered or uncovered treatments on 5 farms in 1993 (n=249) using PVC covers and 4 farms in 1994 (n=186) using Jute covers. Calves were covered for approximately 6 weeks prior to weaning. The difference in total liveweight gain between the covered and uncovered calves within farms ranged from +2.6 kg (

KA, MacDonald, and JW Penno

Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Volume 56, , 266-269, 1996