Housing Effect on Growth, Physiological and Blood Indices in Crossbred Sheep During Winter

Abstract

Background: The winter chill in temperate zones of the country affects animal production. It is understood that during cold winter animals have to maintain their body temperature through increased heat production, thus energy partitioning towards the production is compromised. Since sheep has a thick wooly coat that insulates the animal from harsh ambient temperatures, hence present study was undertaken to assess the impact of housing during cold winter on basic physiological, hemato-biochemical indices and growth in crossbred sheep in temperate Kashmir. Methods: Twenty crossbred weaners of same age, sex and body weight were selected and divided into two groups of ten animals each. One group of sheep was managed under conventional closed shed and another group was managed under open fenced shed during winter from January to March. All the animals were maintained on a uniform nutritional regime. Physiological, hemato-biochemical parameters, body surface temperature, body weight and stress hormones were measured fortnightly. Result: Body weight of animals was significantly higher in closed shed (21.04±0.23 kg) as compared to open shed (18.20±0.19 kg). Heart rate, respiratory rate, body surface temperature differed significantly among the groups. NLR was significantly higher in animals under open shed (0.70) as compared to closed shed animals (0.63). Significant difference was observed in stress hormone cortisol with higher values in open shed animals (12.44±0.07 ng/ml) than in closed shed animals (9.97±0.08 ng/ml). No significant difference was observed in plasma total protein and A/G ratio, however, glucose was significantly higher in animals of open shed as compared to closed shed. Present study revealed that housing management during winter in sheep was essential to maintain production.