Effects of different rest-stop durations at control posts during a long journey on the welfare of sheep.

All livestock transport within the European Union must comply with the EC Regulation 1÷2005. For sheep, this law prescribes a maximum journey of 29 hours after which animals must rest in control posts (CP) for 24 hours before further transportation. However, there is no scientific evidence de ning the effects of di erent stop duration on sheep recovery during long journeys. The aim of this study was to assess if a shorter stop could be provided without impairing ewes' welfare. Ninety-six adult ewes were divided into 4 homogenous groups. One group stayed at the farm (control) and the other 3 were transported for 29 hours (long-transport, LT), stopped at CP for di erent times (8 hours (S8 group); 16 hours (S16 group); 24 hours (S24 group)) and were re-transported for 6 hours (short-transport, ST). Blood and saliva were collected to assess dehydration, muscular damage, and adrenocortical stress before departure, after LT, after the stop, and after ST. The LT a ected the hydration of all transported groups (i.e. higher BUN÷creatinine levels than controls, p<0.001), but basal values were restored after the ST, regardless of the stop duration. After the ST, S8 group had higher muscular damage than the other groups (p<0.05). No di erences in stress level were observed. These results suggest that, in this trial, ewe's welfare was not impaired by a stop reduction from 24 hours to 16 hours.

Effect of perphenazine enanthate on open-field test behaviour and stress-induced hyperthermia in domestic sheep.

The open-field test (OFT) and stress-induced hyperthermia (SIH) have been used to measure individual differences in fear. The present study has been designed as a pharmacological validation of OFT and SIH as indicators of fear in sheep using perphenazine enanthate (PPZ), a long-acting neuroleptic. Twenty four ewes of two breeds, Lacaune and Ripollesa, were tested in an arena measuring 5mx2.5m. Treatment group received one dose of 1.5mg/kg of PPZ and control group received sterile sesame oil. All animals were tested for 10min and behaviours were recorded. Rectal temperature was measured at the beginning (T1) and at the end (T2) of the test. SIH was defined as the difference between T2 and T1. Sheep were tested on days 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 9 after PPZ injection. Variables were analysed using a mixed model. PPZ decreased bleats on days 2, 3, 4 and the SIH response on days 2 and 3. Breed differences were observed. Treated animals showed positive correlations between SIH and bleats; squares entered; attempts to escape and negative correlation between SIH and visits to the food bucket. Our results suggest that behaviour and SIH on the OFT are useful measures of fear in sheep.