Assessment of thermal load on transported goats administered with ascorbic acid during the hot-dry conditions.

The major factor in the induction of physiological stress during road transportation of livestock is the complex fluctuations of the thermal transport microenvironment, encountered when animals are transported across different ecological zones. Recommended guidelines on optimum "on-board" conditions in which goats should be transported are lacking, and there are no acceptable ranges and limits for the thermal loads to which goats may be subjected during long-distance road transportation in hot-dry conditions. Panting score (PS), rectal temperature (RT), heart rate (HR) and respiratory rate (RR) were employed as reliable stress indices to assess the effects of different thermal loads, measured as temperature humidity index (THI), encountered in the vehicle during 12 h of road transportation of 40 goats, and to suggest the administration of 100 mg/kg body weight of ascorbic acid (AA) as an ameliorating agent. The results obtained showed that the PS, RT, HR and RR rose above normal reference values with increase in the THI and journey duration. The rise in PS value, which is a visual indicator of the severity of thermal load, was the most pronounced. The results suggest that values of THI in the vehicle up to 94.6 constitute no risk, while at of 100 it presents a moderate risk and above 100 may result in severe stress. The relationships between the thermal load and the physiological variables were positive and significant (P < 0.05). They reflect the degree of stress imposed by each THI value during the transportation, and may be used as recommended ranges and limit thermal load values in transported goats. The results demonstrated that administration of 100 mg/kg body weight of AA before road transportation mitigated the risk of adverse effects of high THI values and other stress factors due to road transportation in goats.

Modulating Role of Vitamins C and E against Transport-Induced Stress in Pullets during the Hot-Dry Conditions.

The modulating effects of ascorbic acid (AA), vitamin E (E), and a combination of AA and E (AA + E) against eight-hour road transportation stress were investigated in 120 pullets during the hot-dry season. The result obtained showed that handling, loading and transportation induced lymphopenia, neutrophilia, liveweight loss, and mortality, which was alleviated by oral administration of AA, E, and AA + E at doses of 60 mg, 30 mg, and 60 + 30 mg per kg bodyweight, respectively, 30 minutes before being loaded and transported. The meteorological conditions recorded during the study period were higher (P < .05) than the thermoneutral values established for chickens in the zone. In conclusion, the administration of vitamins AA, E, and AA + E, especially AA, ameliorated the risk of adverse effects of handling, loading, transportation, and thermal stress in pullets during the hot-dry season.

Responses of serum electrolytes of goats to twelve hours of road transportation during the hot-dry season in Nigeria, and the effect of pretreatment with ascorbic acid.

Twenty goats which served as the experimental group were administered ascorbic acid (AA) per os at a dosage rate of 100 mg/kg body mass, while 20 others served as controls and were given 10 ml each of sterile water. Forty minutes after the administration and loading, the goats were transported for 12 h. Handling and loading of the experimental and control groups of goats decreased (P < 0.05) the potassium and sodium serum concentrations. The concentration of serum chloride, sodium and calcium increased significantly (P < 0.05) immediately post-transportation, while potassium and magnesium decreased (P < 0.05) in the control goats. In AA-treated goats sodium and magnesium concentrations decreased abruptly (P < 0.05), while calcium increased significantly (P < 0.05) after transportation. Handling, loading and transportation adversely affected the electrolyte balance of the goats which suggested respiratory alkalosis, dehydration and muscular damage in the transported goats, and the administration of AA alleviated the adverse effects of road transportation stress on serum electrolytes.

Assessment of the stresses imposed on adult ostriches (Struthio camelus) during handling, loading, transportation and unloading.

The stresses imposed during the handling, loading and unloading of 250 adult ostriches (Struthio camelus) transported by road were evaluated, weighted, scored and later compared with some objective physiological indices of stress measured after the journey. During handling, the numbers of slips and falls, incidents of aggressive behaviour, the calculated behavioural points, the number of injuries recorded per ostrich and the time spent were significantly (P<0.01) greater than the values recorded during loading and unloading. During handling and loading, 45 per cent of the ostriches had a good score (1.1 to 2 points), 15.5 per cent had a fair score (2.1 to 3 points) and 39.4 per cent had a poor or bad score (more than 3 points). The behavioural scores were significantly and positively correlated with the heterophil:lymphocyte ratio, the rectal temperature and the number of injuries sustained by the ostriches. The results showed that the poorer the behavioural score, the higher the level of stress suffered by the ostriches during handling and loading.

Haematology and behaviour of pullets transported by road and administered with ascorbic acid during the hot-dry season.

The effects of ascorbic acid (AA) on pullets transported by road for 6h during the hot-dry season were investigated. Forty Shika Brown pullets administered orally with AA just before transportation served as experimental, while another 40 pullets given sterile water only served as control. Blood samples analyzed before and after transportation in control pullets showed a decrease (P<0.05) in packed cell volume and haemoglobin values, and a significant (P<0.05) increase in the values of heterophil/lymphocyte ratio, total protein and basophil counts post-transportation. In experimental pullets, the post-transportation values were not different (P>0.05) from those obtained pre-transportation. The result showed that the transportation was stressful in control pullets. The behavioural activities of the pullets' post-transportation period indicated that AA facilitated the transition of the state of depression that followed excitation back to excitation immediately after transportation. In conclusion, AA administration ameliorated the adverse effect of road transportation stress during the hot-dry season.

Excitability scores of goats administered ascorbic acid and transported during hot-dry conditions.

In this study, we investigated the effect of ascorbic acid (AA) administration on goat excitability due to transportation. Ten goats administered AA (p.o.) at 100 mg/kg of body weight before transportation served as the experimental group, and seven goats administered only 10 ml/kg of sterile water (p.o.) served as controls. Excitability scores were recorded for each goat; when weighed, before, immediately after, and 3 h after 8 h of transportation. A score of one to four was allocated to each goat; higher scores represent greater excitability. Immediately after transportation, excitability scores decreased significantly, especially those of control goats (p < 0.001). At 3 h posttransportation, the excitability scores of animals in the experimental group were not significantly (p > 0.05) different from their pre-transportation normal values, whereas those of control goats were significantly lower (p < 0.01). The correlation i.e. the relationship between excitability score values and percent excitability (percentage of goat with particular excitability score) for different excitability score group 3 h post-transportation was positive and highly significant (p < 0.001), in both experimental and control goats. Our results indicate that road transportation induces considerable stress (depression) in goats as evidenced by a lower excitability score posttransportation. Moreover, the administration of AA pretransportation facilitated the transition from a state of depression to excitation. In conclusion, AA administration to animals prior to transportation may ameliorate the depression often encountered after road transportation.