Physiological responses of transported goats treated with ascorbic acid during the hot‐dry season

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to determine the physiological responses of transported Red Sokoto goats (RSG) treated with ascorbic acid (AA). Ten RSG treated orally with ascorbic acid served as experimental subjects, while seven goats treated with sterile water served as the control. The goats were transported for 8 h. The ambient temperature and relative humidity during the study period fluctuated between 21 and 38°C and 51 and 91%, respectively, which indicated that the season was thermally stressful and did not favor transportation of goats. The rectal temperature obtained in the control goats was significantly higher (P < 0.01) than the value in the experimental goats after transportation. There was a significant decrease (P < 0.05) in eosinophil counts and an increase (P < 0.01) in neutrophil counts and neutrophil : lymphocyte ratio recorded in the control goats after transportation, which suggested that the control goats were physically and emotionally stressed. The control goats lost 11.9% of their initial liveweight, while the experimental goats lost only 1.04% after transportation. Multiple stresses, including extreme meteorological factors, acted upon the transported goats and impaired their homeostatic mechanism. In conclusion, AA administration in goats reduced the adverse effects of road transportation stress.

Ameliorative effect of ascorbic acid on rectal temperature and live weight of pigs transported by road for eight hours during the harmattan Season

“…The results of the present study showed fluctuations in the values of RT as previously describe as characteristics of most mammals (Piccione and Caola, 2002). The results were consistent with the findings of Ayo et al (2007) in pullets and Adenkola and Ayo (2009b) in turkeys, and Minka and Ayo (2007b) in goats. They also supported the findings of Makarov (1989) and Piccione and Caola (2002) that such a diurnal fluctuation is driven by a biological clock, classical of most mammals.…”

“…Environmental stress factors have been shown to cause oxidative stress and impair the activity of the antioxidant, vitamin C or ascorbic acid (AA) in vivo (Halliwell, 1996;Sahin et al, 2001). AA protects lipid peroxidation of cytomembranes (Akinwande and Adebule, 2003) and its supplementation has been demonstrated to provide beneficial effects against stress induced tissue damages in goats transported under tropical conditions Minka and Ayo, 2007a) and poultry (Ayo et al, 2007;Minka and Ayo, 2007b;Adenkola and Ayo, 2009b). The RT has been demonstrated to be of value in assessing changes induced by road transportation stress (Minka and Ayo, 2007a, b) and it serves as an index of stress in domestic animals (Mittal and Gosh, 1979;Ayo 2006, Adenkola andAyo 2009b).…”

Influence of reproductive cycle, sex, age and season on haematologic parameters in domestic animals: A review

“…Haemoglobin concentration (Kumar and Pachaura, 2000) and TLC are also indicative of adaptation to adverse environmental conditions. Indeed, haematological values are used to asses stress and welfare in animals (Anderson et al, 1999), especially the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (Stanger et al, 2005;Minka and Ayo, 2007). …”

Haematological Profile of the One-Humped Camel Subjected to Packing (Load-Carrying) in the Harmattan Season in the Semi-Arid Region of Nigeria

“…It is recognized that the camel's haemoglobin has higher affinity for oxygen (Bogin, 2000;Ouajd and Kamel, 2009). Several factors such as blood pH, electrolytes concentration of plasma and environmental conditions such as ambient temperature and relative humidity play important role in determining the homeostasis of blood of animals (Minka and Ayo, 2007;Ayo et al, 2008;Peshin et al, 2010). This study is aimed at investigating some physiological and haematological changes that occur when camels are subjected to packing (load-carrying).…”