Shearing induces secondary biomarkers responses of thermal stress in sheep
Journal Title: Animal Science Papers and Reports - Year 2016, Vol 34, Issue 1
Abstract
The study involved 30 non-pregnant, clinically healthy Comisana sheep in order to evaluate the effect of shearing on rectal temperature (RT), respiratory rate (RR), heart rate (HR), white blood cells (WBC), red blood cells (RBC), haematocrit (Hct), haemoglobin (Hb) and total proteins (TP). During the spring season the animals were divided into two groups: twenty sheep, designated as the experimental group, were shorn (Group A), and ten sheep, designed as the control group, were left unshorn (Group B). All animals were weighed using a mechanical balance in the morning before shearing and after shearing. During the experimental period ambient temperature and relative humidity were recorded, while the temperature-humidity index was calculated. The measurements of studied secondary stress parameters were assessed before shearing (day 0), 1, 15, 30, 45 and 60 days after shearing in the experimental group and at the same time points in the control group. Two-way repeated measure analysis of variance (ANOVA), followed by Bonferroni’s multiple post hoc comparison test, showed a significant effect of shearing and time on RT, RR, HR, RBC, Hct and Hb. These parameters play an important role in providing complementary information for the assessment of thermal stress, since they are affected in response to the stress of shearing, suggesting that they are useful secondary stress indices in shorn sheep. These modifications are useful to monitor the stressful conditions, but also to evaluate health and welfare of animals, and to improve their productivity.
Authors and Affiliations
Stefania Casella, Elisabetta Giudice, Annamaria Passantino, Alessandro Zumbo, Simona Di Pietro, Giuseppe Piccione
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP81868
- DOI -
- Views 126
- Downloads 0
The effect of mesenchymal stem cells as co-culture in in vitro nuclear maturation of ovine oocytes
This study compared the effects of ovine mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and ovine oviductal epithelial cells (OECs) as feeder cells in cell free culture systems (HEPES-modified tissue culture medium, TCM199) supplemented...
The indel polymorphism in cattle amelogenin gene (AMEL) and its significance for the identification and evolutionary studies
Nucleotide and amino acid sequences of cattle amelogenin, the major protein of forming enamel, were analysed by screening 1547 samples collected from cattle of various breeds. Sequenced was the part of cattle exon six of...
Environmental factors affecting the speed of Thoroughbred horses competing in Poland
The study was conducted to examine some factors affecting speed of Thoroughbred horses competing at Polish racecourses. Data on horses’ speed (m/s) in flat races from year 2001 to 2005 comprised 12,643 records for 1,543...
Relation between fearfulness level and maternal behaviour in Arab mares
The study aimed at testing the hypothesis that mares’ fearfulness is a potential factor differentiating the level of their maternal behaviour. Twenty purebred Arab mares were used. In part one of the study fearfulness of...
Estrogen receptor α (ER-α) gene and bovine performance: is there any relation?
The objective of the study was to investigate ER-α gene polymorphism (A/G transition) in 5′ region in consensus promoter for exon C, determine its allelic and genotypic frequencies and assess its association with cattle...