An Early Warning Indicator for Stressors in Sheep and Their Impacts on Productivity: An Updated Review of Behavioral and Physiological Responses to Stress Factors

Résumé fourni par la source

Sheep play a significant role in socio-economic development across the world by ensuring food security and poverty eradication. Sheep are versatile and their adaptability to various climatic conditions is demonstrated by their presence in different geographical regions. However, due to ever-changing environmental conditions and today’s livestock practices, sheep are exposed to distress while trying to keep pace with climate change. Distress is defined as a situation in which the animal shows an overt behavioral sign of suffering. Stress factors such as heat, cold, and on-farm stress factors are stimulants that initiate a stress response in the animal and are unavoidable due to our modern livestock practices. The physiological and production status, breed, age, sex, stress factor, and its duration determine the animal’s response to a particular stressor. Stress factors directly and/or indirectly affect the biological functions of the animal, subsequently compromising the immune system, performance, productivity, product quality, and increasing mortality. Stress factors constitute the cost of stress, and they are, therefore, considered to be economically important in sheep farming and the red meat industry. Hence, it is important to identify and address stress factors at an early stage to manage distress effectively, as well as to develop adequate strategies to improve animal welfare and achieve optimal production. Therefore, this chapter seeks to provide comprehensive information on stress factors, early detection of stress, and the impact of stress on performance. Moreover, the chapter discusses the potential of using observations of behavioral and physiological responses to recognize stress factors.

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