Faculty Collaboration Database

Use of thermography and physiological rate to assess heat tolerance in cattle breeds. Trop Anim Health Prod 2023 May 24;55(3):223

Date

05/24/2023

Pubmed ID

37222821

DOI

10.1007/s11250-023-03613-4

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85160204558 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   6 Citations

Abstract

Thermography has grown in use in recent years. It is a valuable tool for measuring animal heat tolerance under heat stress conditions since it is a non-invasive, safe and practical methodology. Physiological variables such as respiration rate and eye temperature, and environmental variables such as air temperature and wet bulb temperature were analysed in animals from nine cattle breeds (Angus, Braford, Brangus, Canchim, Charolais, Hereford, Nelore, Simmental and Santa Gertrudis) and one bubaline (Mediterranean) at Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Positive correlations were observed between air temperature and respiration rate and eye temperature. Furthermore, the breed strongly influenced the eye temperature and respiration rate of the animals. Eye temperature showed strong correlation with air temperature and wet bulb temperature. Simmental and Nelore animals presented higher eye temperature values. Simmental presented alteration in respiratory rate before the other breeds and Nelore was the last breed to present this alteration. The inflection points in the broken line analysis indicated the environmental temperature limits at which breeds begin to change their respiration to compensate for environmental variation. The use of thermography has proven to be a technique with possible application to evaluate the temperature of animals. Logistic regression analysis allows us to observe how each breed behaves with the temperature change. Using respiration rates and eye temperatures it was possible to identify physiological limits for comfort in different breeds of bovine. In the future it would be interesting to conduct additional studies using other physiological variables and also other indices of climatic conditions.

Author List

Vieira RA, Dias EA, Stumpf MT, Pereira GR, Barcellos JOJ, Kolling GJ, McManus C

Author

Catherine McManus MD, MS Associate Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Animals
Cattle
Fever
Plant Breeding
Respiratory Rate
Temperature
Thermography
Thermotolerance