Thermal Balance in Male Water Buffaloes Transported by Long and Short Journeys
Daniela Rodríguez-González,
Isabel Guerrero Legarreta,
Alfonso Chay-Canul,
Ismael Hernández-Avalos,
Fabio Napolitano,
Ricardo García-Herrera,
Alfredo M. F. Pereira,
Adriana Domínguez-Oliva,
Alejandro Casas-Alvarado,
Brenda Reyes-Sotelo,
Daniel Mota-Rojas
Affiliations
Daniela Rodríguez-González
Master in Science Program [Maestría en Ciencias Agropecuarias], Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Xochimilco Campus, Mexico City 04960, Mexico
Isabel Guerrero Legarreta
Department of Biotechnology: Food Science, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Iztapalapa Campus (UAM-I), Mexico City 09340, Mexico
Alfonso Chay-Canul
División Académica de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Villahermosa 86040, Mexico
Ismael Hernández-Avalos
Department of Biological Science, FESC, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Cuautitlán 04510, Mexico
Fabio Napolitano
Scuola di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali, Alimentari ed Ambientali, Università degli Studi della Basilicata, 85100 Potenza, Italy
Ricardo García-Herrera
División Académica de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Villahermosa 86040, Mexico
Alfredo M. F. Pereira
Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development (MED), Institute for Advanced Studies and Research, Universidade de Évora, 7006-554 Évora, Portugal
Adriana Domínguez-Oliva
Neurophysiology, Behavior, and Animal Welfare Assessment, Department of Animal Production and Agriculture (DPAA), Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM) Xochimilco Campus, Mexico City 04960, Mexico
Alejandro Casas-Alvarado
Neurophysiology, Behavior, and Animal Welfare Assessment, Department of Animal Production and Agriculture (DPAA), Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM) Xochimilco Campus, Mexico City 04960, Mexico
Brenda Reyes-Sotelo
Neurophysiology, Behavior, and Animal Welfare Assessment, Department of Animal Production and Agriculture (DPAA), Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM) Xochimilco Campus, Mexico City 04960, Mexico
Daniel Mota-Rojas
Neurophysiology, Behavior, and Animal Welfare Assessment, Department of Animal Production and Agriculture (DPAA), Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM) Xochimilco Campus, Mexico City 04960, Mexico
Transport is a stressor that can cause physiological and metabolic imbalances in livestock, resulting in stress-induced hyperthermia. In water buffaloes, studies regarding the thermal state of animals during mobilization are scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the thermal response of 1516 water buffaloes using infrared thermography (IRT) during 15 short trips (783 animals, 60,291 records, average duration = 50.33 min ± 5.48 min) and 14 long trips (733 animals, 56,441 records, average duration = 13.31 h ± 47.32 min). The surface temperature was assessed in 11 regions (periocular, lacrimal caruncle, nasal, lower eyelid, auricular, frontal-parietal, pelvic limb, torso, abdominal, lumbar, and thoracic) during seven phases from pasture to post-transport. It was found that the surface temperature of the periocular, lacrimal caruncle, nasal, auricular, frontal-parietal, pelvic limb, torso, abdominal, lumbar, and thoracic regions was significantly higher during SJs (+3 °C) when compared to LJs (p p p p > 0.001) between the periocular, lacrimal caruncle, pinna, and pelvic limb was found. According to the results, SJ could be considered a stressful event that hinders thermal generation, contrarily to LJ.
