Hernandez, Carlos
- University of Auckland
Abstract
Animal welfare concerns have been expressed regarding the use of Electro-Ejaculation (EE) as a semen collection technique. Furthermore, there is little information on the stress responses of hair sheep, particularly when effects due to physical manipulation and electrical stimulation are disaggregated during the EE process. Therefore in the present experiment, changes in concentration of serum cortisol in serial blood samples, Heart (HR) and Respiratory Rates (RR) rates were used to quantify stress response to EE in hair sheep males. Eighteen intact F1 Dorper/St. Croix rams aged 12-13 months were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a control group where, no stimulus was applied, compared to rams that a rectal probe was inserted without EE (T(1)) and males that were electro-ejaculated (T(2)). Blood samples were collected by venipuncture at 0 (immediately before inserting the rectal probe) 20, 40, 70 and 100 min after the onset of the experiment. At these same intervals, RR was measured, while HR was recorded continuously. Higher (p
Keywords
Hair sheep; welfare; electro-ejaculation; cortisol; heart rate
Published in
Journal Of Animal And Veterinary Advances
2009, volume: 8, number: 10, pages: 1968-1972
SLU Authors
UKÄ Subject classification
Animal and Dairy Science
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/86365