Effect of clipping the coat on performance of calves in the field

Abstract

The effect of keeping the coats of weaner calves clipped throughout the year has been measured at Rockhampton. Clipping lowered body temperatures and significantly increased growth rate during summer but reduced growth rate, slightly and not significantly, during winter. Individual animals differing in natural coat type differed more in growth rate than would be expected from the effect of the difference in coat cover alone. Differences in growth rate were more consistently related to inherent coat type than to coat cover. It is concluded that coat type is significant as insulation and as a factor affecting efficiency of evaporative cooling, but also as a character correlated with other physiological attributes, some of which are thermoregulatory and some not thermoregulatory. A sleek coat is therefore associated with some qualities which may be advantageous in a cool climate, but the manifold significance of coat type is expressed in a warm climate.