Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-02T23:39:36.176Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The effect of dehydration on Sudanese desert sheep and goats

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

H. M. El-Hadi
H. M. El-Hadi
Affiliation:
Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Changes in body weight and body temperature were observed in Sudanese desert sheep and goats, which had been subjected to the summer sun (20 °C min. to 42 °C max.), given water normally and then deprived of water for 3 days. Tritiated water was also used to measure total body water and water turnover in these animals together with measurements of plasma and extracellular space, intracellular fluid volume and blood osmolality. The body weight and the size of the fluid compartments decreased in the two species at varying degrees associated with haemoconcentration. The extent of some changes was more marked in sheep than in goats, suggesting better adaptation of the former species to desert life.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 106 , Issue 1 , February 1986 , pp. 17 - 20
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Abdelatief, A. M. (1978). Comparative study of the effect of heat on water balance in desert sheep and Nubian goats. M.V.Sc. thesis. University of Khartoum, Sudan.Google Scholar
Blaxter, K. L., Graham, N. M. & Wainman, F. W. (1956). Some observations on the digestibility of food by sheep and on related problems. British Journal of Nutrition 10, 69–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bowler, R. B. (1944). The determination of thiocyanate in blood serum. Biochemical Journal 38, 385–388.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
El-Hadi, H. M. & Hassan, Y. M. (1982). Seasonal changes in water metabolism of Sudan desert sheep and goats. In Uses of Tritiated Water in Studies of Production and Adaptation in Ruminants, pp. 103—115. Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency.Google Scholar
Macfarlane, W. V. (1964). Terrestrial animals in dry heat. In Handbook of Physiology – Environment 4 (ed. Dill, D. B.), p. 509. Washington D. C: American Physiological Society.Google Scholar
Macfarlane, W. V., Howard, B., Haines, H., Kennedy, P. J. & Sharp, C. M. (1971). The hierarchy of water and energy turnover of mammals living in deserts. Nature (London) 234, 483–484.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Purchit, G. R, Ghosh, P. K. & Taneja, G. C. (1972). Water metabolism in desert sheep. Effects of various degrees of water restriction on the distribution of body water in Marwari sheep. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 23, 685–691.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shkolnik, A., Borut, A. & Choshniak, I. (1972). Water economy of the Bedouin goat. Symposium of the Zoological Society, London 31, 229–242.Google Scholar
Siebert, B. D. & Macfarlane, W. V. (1975). Dehydration in desert camels and cattle. Physiological Zoology 48, 36–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar