Water sprinkling as a tool for heat abatement in farmed Iberian red deer: Effects on calf growth and behaviour.

Autor: Pérez-Barbería FJ; Department of Agroforestry Science and Technology and Genetics, Game and Livestock Resources Unit, University of Castilla-La Mancha, IDR, IREC, Albacete, Spain., Arroyo-González I; Department of Agroforestry Science and Technology and Genetics, Game and Livestock Resources Unit, University of Castilla-La Mancha, IDR, IREC, Albacete, Spain., García AJ; Department of Agroforestry Science and Technology and Genetics, Game and Livestock Resources Unit, University of Castilla-La Mancha, IDR, IREC, Albacete, Spain., Serrano MP; Department of Agroforestry Science and Technology and Genetics, Game and Livestock Resources Unit, University of Castilla-La Mancha, IDR, IREC, Albacete, Spain., Gallego L; Department of Agroforestry Science and Technology and Genetics, Game and Livestock Resources Unit, University of Castilla-La Mancha, IDR, IREC, Albacete, Spain., Landete-Castillejos T; Department of Agroforestry Science and Technology and Genetics, Game and Livestock Resources Unit, University of Castilla-La Mancha, IDR, IREC, Albacete, Spain.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: PloS one [PLoS One] 2021 Apr 22; Vol. 16 (4), pp. e0249540. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Apr 22 (Print Publication: 2021).
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0249540
Abstrakt: Climatic models predict scenarios in which ambient temperature will continue increasing worldwide. Under these climatic conditions, fitness and animal welfare of many populations are expected to suffer, especially those that live in captive or semi-natural conditions, where opportunities of heat abatement are limited. We undertook an experimental design to assess the effect of heat abatement that water sprinkling might have on Iberian red deer calf growth and behaviour from birth to weaning (135 days). One group of ten mother-calf pairs lived on plots with water sprinkling (treatment) available during summer's hottest time of the day, while the control group (nine mother-calf pairs) occupied plots with no available water sprinkling. Treatment and control groups were fed ad libitum and swapped between plots every seven days to minimise any plot effect. Body weight was monitored weekly and individual behaviour was recorded once or twice a week at mid-day. We observed that calves had showers under the sprinklers and wallowed in mud puddles. The results clearly indicated that calves of the treatment group showed a significant increase in body weight at weaning in comparison with the control group, with no differences between sexes (treatment: male = 56.5 kg, female = 50.3 kg; control: male = 50.3 kg, female = 46.5 kg). Mother weight and mother age effects were negligible on calf body weight at weaning. The heavier the mother the faster was the rate of growth of its offspring, irrespective of calf sex. The model indicated that although males grew significantly slower than female calves in the control group, males grew faster than females when exposed to the treatment. Calves of the treatment group spent less time drinking, less time in the shade, similar time eating and more time in motion than calves of the control group. There were no behavioural differences between calf sexes of treatment and control groups. The results indicate the importance of providing animals with opportunities of heat abatement in hot environments to improve animal growth and welfare in farmed Iberian red deer.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz:
Nepřihlášeným uživatelům se plný text nezobrazuje