Assessment of stress in relation to sheep shearing by using behavioural and physiological measurements

Abstract EN

This study was carried out in Sides Agricultural Research Station belonging to Animal Production Research Institute in Beni-Suef governorate on a total number of forty apparently healthy ewe lambs with average weight of 28 ± 0.5 kg to clarify the effect of shearing as a stressor on comfort, feeding and social behavior and blood cortisol level.

Ewe lambs were divided into three groups, the first one (n = 10) is shorn at spring, the second (n = 10) is shorn in autumn and the third (n = 20) is kept as a control.

Results showed that there was no significant difference in patterns of comfort behavior between shorn and unshorn ewes except for grooming behavior which was significantly (p < 0.01) increased in shorn than unshorn groups.

Blood cortisol level was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in ewes shorn in spring and autumn at time of shearing (zero minute) than pre-treatment (-20 minutes) and post-treatment time (3 hours following shearing).

So the cortisol measurements are a useful indicator of short-term stresses from handling or husbandry procedures such as shearing.