Physiological and Production Profiling with TOPSIS Multi‑Criteria Ranking for Identification of Heat‑Tolerant White Fulani Cows under Tropical Farm Conditions

Heat stress negatively affects dairy productivity in the humid tropics. To better understand the consequence, a longitudinally study was carried out to monitor 45 multiparous White Fulani cows for 180 days (temperature–humidity index = 81.00 ± 3.00; peaks = 88.00) with recording daily rectal temperature (RT), respiratory rate (RR), heart rate (HR) and milk yield (MY). Mixed‑effects models were used to quantify the cows’ physiological responses to heat load, while Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was used to rank individual heat stress tolerance. CRITIC‑derived weights prioritized MY (0.34) and RT (0.27). The cows in the top quartile-maintained RT 0.48°C below the herd-wide mean and produced 2.7 kg day⁻¹ more milk despite severe THI. The ranking order was evaluated for consistency using equal-weight sensitivity analysis, resulting in a strong Spearman correlation coefficient (ρ = 0.89). Findings from the study showed that the multivariate pipeline implemented provides a simple, rapid and field‑applicable tool for selecting heat‑tolerant lactating cows under smallholder conditions. The study suggests validation of the approach across additional agro‑ecological zones of Nigeria as warranted future investigations.