Effect of Hot Environment on the Body Temperature and Plasma Cortisol Concentration in Ruminant

高溫環境이 反芻家畜의 체온 및 혈장 Cortisol 농도에 미치는 影響

Temperatures of blood and skin, respiratory rate and plasma cortisol concentration in sheep at a warm (average ambient temperature of $15.3^{\circ}C$) and a hot (average ambient temperature of $27.0^{\circ}C$ environment were measured to investigate the effect of hot environment on the physiological responses in ruminant. Temperatures of core, mean skin and mean body in sheep were tended to increase at day time and to decrease at night time at both warm and hot environment, while 24-hr average for those temperatures were significantly higher at hot environment than at warm environment (P<0.05). The calculated body heat content was higher in sheep at hot environment than at warm environment (P<0.05). Respiratory rate and plasma cortisol concentration had no significant differences between warm and hot environment, suggesting that sheep were not stress by the hot environment in this experiment. It is, therefore, suggested that sheep were well adopted to hot environment by increasing body heat content against heat stress.