Effect of heat stress on production in Mediterranean dairy sheep

Abstract

European Mediterranean countries are characterized by exposure to considerable heat between three and six months annually. High ambient temperature, solar radiation, wind speed and relative humidity, cause the effective temperature of the environment to be above the thermo-neutral zone of the animals (5 to 25ºC; McDowell, 1972) and therefore heat stress occurs (Bianca, 1962).

Keywords

• heat tolerance, temperature-humidity index (THI), dairy sheep