The Impact of Heat Stress on the Physiological, Productive, and Reproductive Status of Dairy Cows

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The manuscript entitled “The impact of heat stress on the physiological and productive status of dairy cows” covers in detail the physiological status of heat stressed dairy cows and their production performances are affected. There are lot of literature reviews on the subject. To me the review in its current form is very routine. In my opinion, the authors must cover some advanced aspects to make the review novel. The authors must address the following points to make the review updated and informative.

Major Points:

1.     The economic losses incurred as a result of heat stress on dairy cattle milk production should be added

2.     The introduction is very poorly written. The authors must clearly state the hypothesis and objectives of the review at the end of introduction section

3.     The authors must cover in detail sensor based applications for recording behavior in heat stressed dairy cattle 

4.     The applications of skin temperature measurements using IRT should be covered in detail

5.     The molecular mechanisms governing dairy cattle adaptation needs to be updated with advanced biomarkers apart from heat shock proteins. 

6.     A section on advanced quantifiable biomarkers for heat stress in dairy cattle will benefit the readers

Author Response

I scored all the mentioned recommendations.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Overall, I am pleased with the quality of this manuscript, just a few suggestions for the authors.

1. Consider adding 'reproduction' to the title.

2. The abstract seems incomplete. Better finishing with your most significant findings or suggestions for future.

3. L58, I suggest separating "3.1. Body Temperature and management of heat stress in dairy cattle" into two subsections. For body temperature, you can discuss in more details the temperature variations from animals' core body to their periphery in order to dissipate heat during heat stress. Indeed, genetic selection is a long-term and quite sustainable means to manage heat stress but it is not the only way. There are some common methods in nowadays dairy farms to manage heat stress. For instance, environmental regulation and nutritional intervention.  

4. L84, when discussing heat tolerance and its selection, it would be better to give some more information about the antagonism between heat tolerance and productivity. This can be mentioned together with genetic selection as a means of heat stress management.

5. Please try to cite literature whenever pointing out a principle or a component.

 

Author Response

I scored all the mentioned recommendations.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors have addressed all my queries satisfactorily