Differences in Microclimate Characteristics Influencing the Physiological Values and Productivity of Beef Cattle in Central Lampung

Abstract

The research aimed to study the physiological response and productivity of beef cattle to different microclimatic characteristics of pens in Terbanggi Besar, Central Lampung District. Ten beef cattle, five each, were placed in two different pens. Pen A was in an open-green environment with an enclosure height of  4 meters, while pen B was in a residential environment with an enclosure height of 3 meters. Microclimate profile measurements were taken three times a day, while physiological values (rectal temperature, heart rate and respiratory frequency) were taken twice a day. Daily Body Weight Gain (DBWG) measurements were taken to determine cattle productivity. This study showed that the microclimate conditions of pen A had lower temperature, humidity, Temperature Humidity Index (THI), and ammonia, as well as higher wind speed compared to pen B. This has implications for the physiological values of beef cattle. Although both pens showed signs of moderate stress with THI (80.69±1.18) in pen A and THI (82.10±0.82) in pen B, beef cattle in pen A still showed better physiological values than beef cattle in pen B (p < 0.05). The productivity of beef cattle in pen A was indicated by better DBWG values than beef cattle in pen B, namely (1.59±0.16) kg/day and (1.30±0.23) kg/day (p < 0.05).