The original question was:
It has been a hot summer in Wisconsin. The average temperature for the last month and a half has been 80-85 degrees F with relatively high humidity. Your herd of holstein cows have decreased their overall milk production by about 1500 pounds over the last 4 milkings. This trend was evident prior to this large drop, but at smaller intervals for several weeks. This weather is going to continue for the next several weeks. Which of the following options would you implement to try and increase milk production during the heat spell?
A) feed lower amounts of feed during the day and more during the evening when the temperatures drop
B) allow them to stay on the "cow floor" where their is adequate shade and water
C) increase the amount of roughage in the diet in order to increase ruminal fermentation
D) only A and C
E) only A and B
The modified question is:
Which
of the following options would you implement to try and increase milk
production during an extended period of heat stress?
A) feed
lower amounts of feed during the day and more during the evening when the
temperatures drop
B)
allow them to stay on the "cow floor" where their is adequate shade
and water
C)
increase the amount of roughage in the diet in order to increase ruminal
fermentation
D)
only B and C
E)
only A and B
*The
purpose of this question is to determine if students understand how heat stress
can influence feed intake and milk production.
*After the feedback from my group members I got rid of the "outside" information because as I came to realize it was more distracting than anything else. Ultimately the outside information was not necessary to answer the question. Most likely students would have read the scenario and question and by the time they got to the end they wouldn't know what they were supposed to be doing/looking for.
I really like this question Krista! I think your revised question best illustrates the concept of heat stress and the corresponding effects on feed intake and milk production. The scenario situation, although realistic, was too wordy and unnessecary for the main point of your question. I especially like your "cow floor" option!
ReplyDeleteThe leaner question is much nicer. It gets to the point quickly, and especially with lecture you don't want to be bogged down with the time constraint of filtering through the excess. In an exam I imagine it would be okay, but for a quick clicker it was a little much. I know very little about increasing milk production in cows, but I imagine that there is some potential for discussion based on the options given.
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned by others, I like the revised question as well. Still gets to the point of what you were asking, but in a more simplistic way. I like the application of how the question doesn't just ask about the effect of heat stress, but rather, how can it be overcome. Requires both knowledge of the topic and the ability to apply the concept.
ReplyDelete