Abstract
Kacang (K) and Kacang Etawah (KE) cross goats are the major goat breeds that are important for farming livelihood and income and recognized for their tolerance to hot and humid tropical climates. As global warming progresses, the daily maximum temperature (Tmax) is predicted to be continuously increased, which will challenge goat production in the future. The objective of this study was to evaluate the physiological and behavioral responses of the goats to the elevated Tmax. Six K and six KE female goats were housed in a normal environment (average Tmax: 33°C; temperature humidity index (THI): 76 to 86) for 6 weeks and then in a hot environment (average Tmax: 38°C; THI: 76 to 92) for 7 weeks. During hot conditions, rectal, rectal surface, and skin temperature, respiration rate, hemoglobin, and cholesterol increased (p < 0.05), whereas glucose blood levels decreased (p < 0.01). Dry matter (DM) intake was lowered (p < 0.01), and DM digestibility was elevated (p < 0.01), whereas drinking water and body water retention were lowered but varied (p < 0.05) during hot weeks. Lying time increased during the hot weeks in both breeds (p < 0.01), whereas lying and ruminating as well as total ruminating time was longer (p < 0.05) in KE goats compared to K goats, which explain the greater (p < 0.05) DM digestibility in KE goats. The effect of the elevated Tmax might be less severe since it also depends on the duration of the Tmax and the variation of daily THI.
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Data availability
The datasets analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Ministry of education, culture, research, and technology, Indonesia (Grand number 0148.013/UN9.3.1/PL/2022). We greatly appreciate the support of Akbar Jalil, Muhammad Irvan, and Fatkhur Rohman for technical support during the experiment and Eli Ermawati and Rise Juliana during the behavioral analysis. We would also like to thank I Komang Gede Wiryawan for correcting our English.
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Ali, A.I.M., Sandi, S., Fariani, A. et al. Physiological changes and behavioral responses in heat-stressed goats under humid tropical environment. Int J Biometeorol 67, 1757–1764 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-023-02536-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-023-02536-x