Prenatal heat stress effects on gestation and postnatal behavior in kid goats

Abstract

Consequences of heat stress during pregnancy can affect the normal development of the offspring. In the present experiment, 30 Murciano-Granadina dairy goats (41.8 ± 5.7 kg) were exposed to 2 thermal environments varying in temperature-humidity index (THI) from 12 days before mating to 45 days of gestation. The environmental conditions were: gestation under thermal-neutral (TN; THI = 71 ± 3); and gestation under heat stress (HS; THI = 85± 3) conditions. At 27 ± 4 days old, female kids exposed to in utero TN (IUTN; n = 16) or in utero HS (IUHS; n = 10) were subjected to 2 tests: arena test (AT) and novel object test (NOT), the latter was repeated at 3 months of age. Additionally, 8 months after birth, a subset of IUTH and IUHS growing goats (n = 8 each; 16.8 ± 3.4 kg BW) were exposed to 2 environmental conditions in 2 consecutive periods: a basal thermal-neutral period (THI = 72 ± 3) for 7 days, and a heat-stress period (THI = 87 ± 2) for 21 days. In both periods, feeding, resting, posture, and thermally-associated behaviors were recorded. The gestation length was shortened by 3 days in GHS goats. In the AT, IUHS kids showed a lower number of sniffs (P < 0.01) compared to IUTN. In the NOT, IUHS kids also tended to show a lower number of sniffs (P = 0.09). During heat exposure, IUTN and IUHS growing goats spent more time resting and exhibited more heat-stress related behaviors such as panting and drinking (P < 0.001); however, no differences were observed between both groups. In conclusion, heat stress during the first third of pregnancy shortened gestation length and influenced the exploratory behavior of the kids in the early life. However, behavior responses to heat stress during the adulthood were not affected by the in utero thermal treatment.

Placental Development and Physiological Changes in Pregnant Ewes in Silvopastoral and Open Pasture Systems during the Summer

“…Heat stress can reduce the duration of pregnancy in cows and goats, directly impacting the reduction in birth weight [48,49]. However, the present study does not show a system effect on the duration of the gestation of ewes, even with a lower mean of the OP system (140 days) compared to the SP system (145.5 days).…”

Causes and Flock Level Risk Factors of Sheep and Goat Abortion in Three Agroecology Zones in Ethiopia

“…Furthermore, extreme ambient temperatures in lowland agroecology might contribute to the higher abortion rate in sheep and goats (41,42). Heat stress in this agro-ecosystem leads to hyperthermia and may indirectly affect feed intake (43).…”

Uterine blood flow, fetal heart rate, gestational length, and fetal birth weight variability in response to maternal temperament in the goat

“…Also, the exposure of pregnant rats to nervous showed physical impairment, neonatal mortality, stillbirths, low birth weight, and preterm births (Govindaraj et al., 2017). In sheep and goats, the stressed pregnant animals showed a short length of pregnancy (Bloomfield et al., 2003; Coloma‐García et al., 2020). The reduction of gestation periods was 4.2 days in fearful than the normal non‐fearful goats.…”