• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.1435-1441
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• 2017

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the effect of adding water to total mixed ration (TMR) on fresh water intake, nutrient digestibility, wool cortisol, and blood indices in Corriedale ewes under hot and humid conditions. Methods: Nine non-pregnant Corriedale ewes (ave. body weight = $41{\pm}3.5kg$) were individually fed diets based on maintenance requirements in metabolic crates. Ewes were assigned to three treatment groups according to a triplicate $3{\times}3$ Latin Square design for 3 periods of 21 days duration each (9 ewes per treatment, 27 replications). Treatments were TMR (crude protein [CP] = 16.1, total digestible nutrients = 69.1%) moisture levels for 40%, 50%, and 60%. Results: No differences were found in body weight gain among all treatment groups (p>0.05). Nitrogen balance including digestible N, retained N, and urinary and fecal N showed no change among the treatment groups (p>0.05). Fresh water intake was the lower in 50% TMR moisture group than in the other groups (p<0.05). Other than ether extract which was higher in 60% TMR moisture group (p<0.05) the differences among nutrient digestibilities including CP, organic matter, dry matter, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, and non-fiber carbohydrate were not significant (p>0.05). No significant difference was observed for serum protein, blood urea nitrogen, glucose, and triglyceride among the treatment groups (p>0.05). Wool and blood cortisol were not different among the treatment groups (p>0.05). Blood hematology including red blood cell, white blood cells, hemoglobin, hematocrit, basophils, and eosinophils were not different among the treatment groups (p>0.05). Conclusion: It is concluded that TMR moisture at 40%, 50%, and 60% had no effects on N balance parameters, and nutrient digestibilities except for the ether extract under hot and humid conditions. Additionally there were no effects on stress conditions include wool cortisol, as well as blood cortisol levels of ewes.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.11
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• pp.1761-1769
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• 2007

This experiment was conducted to determine the extent to which susceptibility to cortisol-induced follicle shutdown is influenced by fleece phentotype. Twenty Finewool (10 sheep low fibre diameter, low coefficient of fibre diameter-LL and 10 low fibre diameter, high coefficient of variation of fibre diameter-LH) and twenty Strongwool (10 low fibre diameter, low coefficient of variation of fibre diameter-HL and 10 high fibre diameter and high coefficient of variation of fibre diameter-HH) sheep of 9 months of age were individually penned in an animal house and were injected intramuscularly with an aqueous suspension of hydrocortisone acetate at a rate of 1.42 mg/kg body weight for a period of two weeks. Fibre diameter was measured from clipped tattooed patch wool samples. Follicle activity was measured by histological changes in skin biopsies taken weekly. Blood samples were collected at two-week intervals and plasma cortisol measured. Increased plasma cortisol concentration significantly (p<0.05) reduced clean wool production and mean fibre diameter dropped to its lowest level four weeks after commencement and two weeks after the cessation of cortisol injection. Elevation of plasma cortisol concentration significantly (p<0.0001) increased the percentage of inactive follicles two weeks after injection started. High fibre diameter groups (Strongwool sheep; i.e. HL+HH) had significantly (p<0.0001) higher percentage of follicle shutdown than low fibre diameter groups (Finewool sheep; i.e. LL+LH). Average percentage of shutdown follicles for Finewool (LL+LH) and Strongwool (HL+HH) Merino sheep was $9.8{\pm}0.9$ and $13.5{\pm}0.9$ respectively. Shutdown of primary follicles was more pronounced in Finewool than Strongwool sheep. There was no significant effect of coefficient of variation of fibre diameter on propensity to follicle shutdown induced by exogenous cortisol. It is concluded that elevation in plasma cortisol concentration is inhibitory to the normal activity of follicles in Strongwool sheep but that variation in fibre diameter has little or no effect.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.895-900
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• 2016

The present study aims to confirm the influence of a horse-riding lesson program (HRLP) on the stress level of horses and riders by respectively analyzing their salivary cortisol concentration. Twenty-four healthy horses and 23 riders participated in this study. The horses were randomly classified into two groups for the horse riding lesson program: Class 1 (for the beginner lesson) and Class 2 (for the intermediate lesson). The Class 1 group consisted of 12 horses and 12 riders, while the Class 2 group consisted of 12 horses and 11 riders. Salivettes cotton wool swabs were used for saliva collection and the saliva analyses were conducted using a two-way analysis of variance for repeated measures with SAS version 8. As for the results, the average salivary cortisol concentration of all horses before HRLP significantly increased compared to the baseline (p<0.001) while it decreased after the HRLP. The results of the salivary cortisol concentration of the riders were similar to the horses' results. However, there was no difference during the HRLP between Class 1 and Class 2 in the horse or rider groups. The results suggest that the HRLP did not influence the stress level of the horses or riders. Thus, this study provides the necessary information and guidelines for future studies on stress in horses during riding and gives insight into better horse welfare and management options.