RESUMO
Two groups of 25 one-year-old Dorper rams were deprived of water for 52 h and then allowed free access to water for the last 18 h before they were slaughtered. One of these groups received a maize-meal and bone-meal lick containing 28,5% salt (sodium chloride) during the last 18 h period. A control group of 20 sheep received water throughout the experiment. The salt group had an average intake of 4,5 liters of water per animal in the 18 h rehydration period while the other water deprived group drank about 3,8 liters of water per animal. After being slaughtered, all the sheep in the salt group had typically wet and glistening carcasses, 18 of the other water deprived group had wet carcasses while none in the control group were affected. These results seem to indicate that the wet carcass syndrome is caused by overhydration after a period of dehydration and that salt intake during rehydration can exacerbate the condition.