Physiological responses of Australian Merino wethers exposed to high heat load

Twelve 9-mo-old Merino wethers (30.4 +/- 3.2 kg of BW) were used in a crossover study to investigate the heat tolerance of Australian Merino sheep by testing their physiological responses to repeated heat loads that occurred during summer months. Wethers were randomly divided into 2 groups of 6 wethers each, housed individually in an environmental chamber, and subjected to 2 d of thermoneutral conditions (TNC) followed by either 7 d of TNC (maximum temperature of 24 degrees C, minimum temperature of 16 degrees C) or 7 d of hot conditions (maximum temperature of 38 degrees C, minimum temperature of 28 degrees C), and then 2 d of TNC. These treatments were applied in 2 replicates, with each replicate in a separate environmental chamber. Rectal temperature (RT) and respiration rate were measured daily at 0600, 0800, 1000, 1200, 1400, 1600, and 1800 h. Feed and water intakes were measured daily, and wethers were weighed on d 1 and 11. Blood samples were collected from each whether on d 2 and 6, and serum was assayed for concentrations of creatine, glucose, total protein, cholesterol, NEFA, calcium, sodium, and potassium. Exposure to a high ambient temperature resulted in an 0.8 degrees C increase in RT (P < 0.001), an increase in respiration rate (P < 0.001) by 66 breaths/min, and a 2.7 L/d increase in water intake (P < 0.0001). Feed intake decreased by 22% (P < 0.0001), BW decreased by 5.2% (P < 0.03), and creatine concentration was reduced (P < 0.05). No differences (P > 0.05) between treatments were observed for any of the remaining serum variables. These results indicate that Australian Merino sheep were able to maintain RT within the normal range during exposure to a prolonged increase in heat and that they recovered quickly from the negative effect of heat stress within 2 d of conditions returning to TNC. It would appear that they have a high heat tolerance, and further studies are needed to examine the effects of a greater heat load to determine the temperature-humidity index thresholds for Australian Merino sheep.