Wool cortisol as putative retrospective indicator of stress in ewes during the third trimester of pregnancy, and their newborns: effects of parity and litter size — an exploratory study

Frontiers in Animal Science

Animal Science

Mireille Bentvelzen¹  F. Josef van der Staay¹  Rebecca E. Nordquist²  Elly C. Zeinstra²  Johannes C.M. Vernooij² 

[1] Veterinary Medicine, Department Population Health Sciences, Animals in Science & Society, Former Behavior and Welfare Group, University Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands;Veterinary Medicine, Department Population Health Sciences, Animals in Science & Society, University Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands;

关键词: wool cortisol;    stress;    Ovis aries;    parity;    litter size;    sex differences;    sheep;    livestock welfare;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fanim.2023.1056726

 received in 2022-09-29, accepted in 2023-05-09,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Stress is an important factor in animal welfare. Hair or wool cortisol concentrations are considered to be potential long-term indicators of stress experienced by an animal. Using Swifter sheep, we investigated whether ewe parity and litter size affect the wool cortisol concentrations in ewes and their offspring. We hypothesized that multiparous ewes and their offspring would have higher wool cortisol concentrations than primiparous ewes and their offspring, that ewes with larger litters and their offspring would have lower wool cortisol concentrations than ewes with smaller litters and their offspring, that male lambs would have higher wool cortisol concentrations than female lambs, and that the wool cortisol concentrations in the wool of ewes and their lambs would be correlated. Lamb wool grows in utero during the third trimester of pregnancy. In ewes, the shave–reshave method was used so that wool samples from ewes also covered approximately the last trimester of pregnancy. Our study confirmed that litter size affected ewe wool cortisol concentrations: ewes that gave birth to larger litters (i.e., 3 or 4 lambs) had higher wool cortisol concentrations than ewes that gave birth to smaller litters (i.e., 1 or 2 lambs). There was no evidence that the wool cortisol concentrations of the ewes and their lambs were correlated. Neither litter size nor parity of the ewe affected wool cortisol in the lambs. Our study confirms that wool cortisol can be reliably measured in ewes and their newborn lambs, and suggests that it may be useful as a retrospective indicator of stress during the last trimester of pregnancy.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Zeinstra, Vernooij, Bentvelzen, van der Staay and Nordquist