The Effects of Housing on Growth, Immune Function and Antioxidant Status of Young Female Lambs in Cold Conditions
Author:
Xiao Jin1ORCID, Guo Wenliang1, Han Zhipeng1, Xu Yuanqing1, Xing Yuanyuan1, Phillips Clive J. C.23ORCID, Shi Binlin1ORCID
Affiliation:
1. College of Animal Science, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010018, China 2. Curtin University Sustainability Policy (CUSP) Institute, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6845, Australia 3. Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Estonia University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 1, 51014 Tartu, Estonia
Abstract
Cold conditions in northern China during winter may reduce sheep growth and affect their health, especially if they are young, unless housing is provided. We allocated 45 two-month-old female lambs to be housed in an enclosed building, a polytunnel, or kept outdoors, for 28 days. The daily weight gain and scalp and ear skin temperature of outdoor lambs were less than those of lambs that were housed in either a house or polytunnel; however, rectal temperature was unaffected by treatment. There was a progressive change in blood composition over time, and by the end of the experiment, outdoor lambs had reduced total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) and increased malondialdehyde compared to those in the house or polytunnel. In relation to immune responses in the lambs’ serum, in the polytunnel, immunoglobulin A (IgA), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) were higher and immunoglobulin G (IgG) lower compared with the concentrations in lambs that were outdoors. Over the course of the experiment, genes expressing heat shock proteins and antioxidant enzymes increased in lambs in the outdoor treatment, whereas they decreased in lambs in the indoor treatments. It is concluded that although there were no treatment effects on core body temperature, the trends for progressive changes in blood composition and gene expression indicate that the outdoor lambs were not physiologically stable; hence, they should not be kept outdoors in these environmental conditions for long periods.
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation Fund Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region key research and achievement transformation project Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Youth Science and Technology Talents Project High Level Research Project of College of Animal Science, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University the International Animal Welfare Standards Project
Subject
General Veterinary,Animal Science and Zoology
Reference37 articles.
1. Hu, L., Brito, L.F., Abbas, Z., Sammad, A., Kang, L., Wang, D., Wu, H., Liu, A., Qi, G., and Zhao, M. (2021). Investigating the Short-Term Effects of Cold Stress on Metabolite Responses and Metabolic Pathways in Inner-Mongolia Sanhe Cattle. Animals, 11. 2. Effects of ambient temperature on growth performance, blood metabolites, and immune cell populations in Korean cattle steers;Kang;Asian Australas. J. Anim. Sci.,2016 3. Effects of cold temperature and fat supplementation on growth performance and rumen and blood parameters in early fattening stage of Korean cattle steers;Kang;Anim. Feed Sci. Technol.,2020 4. Thermogenesis and physiological maturity in neonatal lambs: A unifying concept in lamb survival;Plush;Anim. Prod. Sci.,2016 5. Effect of short-term cold exposure on skeletal muscle protein breakdown in rats;Manfredi;J. Appl. Physiol.,2013
|
|