Effect of transportation stress on the thermoregulatory response of young and adult rabbits

Abstract

The aim of this experiment was to investigate the effect of stress due to road transportation on rabbits of different age groups. A total of 30 local mixed breed rabbits of different age groups were used. They were ten (10) rabbits per group and were grouped as follows; age 4-6 weeks (T₁), age 8-12 weeks (T₂), age 7-12 months (convert to weeks for uniformity) (T₃) and the animals were considered to be young, growers and adult respectively. The weight of the animals was 400g, 1070g and 1600g respectively. All the rabbits were transported by road for 3 h and their rectal temperature (RT), ear temperature, (ET), respiratory rate (RR), and heart rate (HR) values were recorded before, during and after the transportation. The results showed that road transportation was stressful to all the rabbits, as evidenced by increase in RT, ET, RR and HR values of all the animals. The values were significantly (P<0.05) higher in adult rabbits compared to the young and growers. On arrival, HR and RT values were higher in adult and grower animals than in the young. This study revealed that adult and growing rabbits are more stressed during transportation than the young rabbits.

Key Words: Age Group, Transportation Stress, Thermoregulatory Response