Effect of the presence of a conspecific in the housing of sheep in the new environment, following acute stress caused by transportation
| Autor: | Meyer, Fabiola Schons, Velasque, Andréa Gonçalves, Muccillo, Marcelo de S., Carissimi, Andre Silva |
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| Jazyk: | portugalština |
| Rok vydání: | 2010 |
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| Zdroj: | Repositório Institucional da UFRGS Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) instacron:UFRGS |
| Popis: | Background: Sheep are social and gregarious animals. They feel at ease when free and clustered rather than isolated. In some situations, as in experimental procedures, they need to be separated from the flock and kept without social company. Both instances, separation from the flock and isolation are considered stressful and may impact their well being. As stress can affect the results of the study, special care should be taken when conducting biomedical or veterinary research. The aim of this study was to compare the concentration of cortisol and behavior of ewes housed at a research institution in the presence of a familiar conspecific, an unfamiliar conspecific or in the absence of conspecifics. Materials, Methods & Results: Experimental procedures were approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Eighteen Corriedale ewes were divided into three groups. Group I (n = 6): the experimental sheep was housed with a familiar conspecific, an adult Texel sheep, kept in the same experimental flock of sheep throughout the study. Group II (n = 6): the experimental sheep was housed with a conspecific stranger, also an adult Texel sheep, but from a different flock. Group III (n = 6): the experimental ewe was kept in social isolation, without contact with conspecifics. Each ewe was transported from the source property to the location of the experiment, always at the same time, where remained under observation for six hours. A total of five blood samples for cortisol was collected: a baseline (before transportation), upon arrival at the experiment site and two, four and six hours after arrival. Animal behavior was recorded during the six-hour stay at the experimental site with a miniature camera. We assessed time of interaction with conspecifics, time spent on having food and water, rest, the number of bleating and number of steps. There were not statistically significant differences in measurements of cortisol between groups using repeated measures ANOVA. Statistical difference (P |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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