Physiological differences between twin and single-born lambs and kids during the first month of life

Abstract

Abstract. The effects of time after birth and of twinning on rectal temperature (RT), heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR) and body weight (BW) values were evaluated in five singleton Comisana lambs (three males and two females), five singleton Maltese Kids (three males and two females), four couples of twin Comisana lambs (four males and four females) and four couples of twin Maltese kids (four males and four females) during the first month of life. For all kids and lambs, RT, HR, RR and BW were recorded after 1 and 24 h from birth and every 2 days until the 30th day of life. The application of two-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed a statistically significant effect of time (P < 0.0001) on RT, HR, RR and BW values in all lambs and kids during the first month of life. Any significant effect of twinning (P > 0.05) on all studied parameters was found in lambs, whereas statistically significant differences in BW, RT and HR values (P < 0.01) were found between twin and singleton kids throughout the first month of life. The results obtained in this study make a contribution to the knowledge of homeostatic, cardiorespiratory and thermoregulatory adaptations occurring in singleton lambs and kids and in twin lambs and kids during the first 30 days of life. Our findings indicate that the BW, RT, HR and RR values, whose homeostasis is still evolving in newborn, should be interpreted dynamically as a function of the period of postnatal adaptation and also of twinning.

Response of vital functions, Apgar and cortisol in the prognosis of vigor against neonatal factors of lambs

“…In the present study it can be observed that there is no difference related to gender and type of delivery. These results contradict the values mentioned by Fazio et al (2016), who did not find weight differences in the neonatal period in lambs born in twin deliveries (3.20±0.13 kg) and single deliveries (3.87±0.34 kg). Nobrega et al (2005) mention that the temperatures of the semi-arid region favor the survival of pups, but the inadequate nutritional level of the matrixes in the final third of pregnancy contributes to the occurrence of starvation/hypothermia as a consequence of the low weight at birth.…”

Analysis of multivariate relations among birth weight, survivability traits, growth performance, and some important factors in Suffolk lambs

“…The moderate heritability (in the range h 2 = 0.33-0.77) of birth weight (Assan et al, 2002;Everett-Hincks et al, 2014) has been detected, and thus its importance in the selection process as one of the criteria employed has been confirmed. Birth weight is also influenced by external or internal factors, such as the year of birth (Gardner et al, 2007), the ewe's age (Thomson et al, 2004), the mature ewe's nutritional status (Kenyon et al, 2004(Kenyon et al, , 2014, litter size, or the sex of the lamb (Morris et al, 2003;Gootwine and Rozov, 2006;Schiller et al, 2015;Fazio et al, 2016). All of these factors also affect subsequent survivability traits and lambs' growth performance, as referred to by the abovementioned authors.…”

Physiological and Blood Response in Dairy Goat Kids Disbudding by Subcutaneous Injection of Eugenol and Cautery

“…Stress and pain stimulate the sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves, and subsequently result in changes in clinical parameters such as body temperature, pulse rate, and respiratory rate (TPR) 10 which is usually absent in the similar studies and not much attention is paid to these changes together with cortisol. In addition to physiological and behavioral changes measurement 11,12 in animals to measure pain, serum cortisol levels can also be used. Cortisol is the main glucocorticoid hormone that is released in response to pain or stress.…”