International Journal of Livestock Research eISSN : 2277-1964 NAAS Score -5.36 Vol 8 (01) Jan ’18 Hosted@www.ijlr.org DOI 10.5455/ijlr.20170425045104 Page8 Review Article Nutritional Strategies to Alleviate Heat Stress in Dairy Animals – A Review M. M. Pawar 1* , A. K. Srivastava 2 , H. D. Chauhan 2 and S. V. Damor 1 College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar – 385 506, Gujarat, INDIA 1 Department of Animal Nutrition 2 Department of Livestock Production and Management *Corresponding author: mahespawar@gmail.com Rec. Date: Apr 25, 2017 04:51 Accept Date: Oct 09, 2017 17:32 Published Online: January 02, 2018 DOI 10.5455/ijlr.20170425045104 Abstract Due to increased average temperatures and humidity, severe heat stress in dairy animals is observed, which leads to loss in milk production and health problems. Some of the most common signs of heat stress in cows are reduced feed intake, reduced milk yield and milk fat, reduced activity but increased respiration rate, increased body temperature and impaired reproductive performance. As the animal productivity decreases during the summer due to consequences of heat stress, it is one of the costliest issues facing animal producers and certainly one of the primary constraints to efficient and profitable animal husbandry in developing countries. The interventions to combat heat stress in animals include changing the physical environment, genetic improvement and nutritional interventions. The nutritional strategies like increasing water availability, energy and nutrient densities, providing specific supplementation such as trace minerals, vitamins niacin, chromium, selenium, antioxidants, electrolytes and rumen fermentation modifiers that have proven to alleviate heat stress in diary animals. Key words: Dairy Animals, Heat Stress, Nutritional Strategies, Temperature Humidity Index How to cite: Pawar, M., Srivastava, A., Chauhan, H., & Damor, S. (2018). Nutritional Strategies to Alleviate Heat Stress in Dairy Animals - A Review. International Journal of Livestock Research, 8(1),8-.18 http://dx.doi.org/10.5455/ijlr.20170425045104 Introduction India ranks first in the world milk production with annual milk production of 132.4 million, and contributes about 16% to the world milk production (BAHS, 2014). For the rural people dairying has been playing a major role by providing livelihoods. However, nowadays environmental extremes are the major constraints in dairy animals which severely affecting production of milk. Because of the climate change effects, summer temperatures have been increasing worldwide, and this trend will continue in near