Effects of environmental stressors on deep body temperature and activity levels in silver fox vixens (Vulpes vulpes)
The present study was performed to investigate the effects of 14 different environmental stimuli on stress-induced hyperthermia (SIH). and levels of locomotor activity in six (three infanticidal, three non-infanticidal. 2.5-year-old silver fox vixens. The effects of contact with humans) six experiments; handling for 5 min, handling of neighbouring animal for 5 min, presence of one […]
Sheep exhibit a positive judgement bias and stress-induced hyperthermia following shearing
The detection of judgement biases may improve welfare evaluations by measuring the cognitive component, particularly the valence, of affective states. Judgement biases have been successfully demonstrated in various laboratory animals but only recently in sheep. Chronic stressors have been found to induce a negative judgement bias and a short-term stressor (restraint and isolation stress) a […]
Repeated social defeat stress induces chronic hyperthermia in rats
Psychological stressors are known to increase core body temperature (Tc) in laboratory animals. Such single stress-induced hyperthermic responses are typically monophasic, as Tc returns to baseline within several hours. However, studies on the effects of repeated psychological stress on Tc are limited. Therefore, we measured Tc changes in male Wistar rats after they were subjected […]
Associations between open-field behaviour and stress-induced hyperthermia in two breeds of sheep
In sheep (Ovis aries) and other farm animals, routine husbandry procedures can cause negative emotions, such as fear, which are generally considered to reduce animal welfare. The open-field test (OFT) is the most widely used test to measure fearfulness in animals. The induction of psychological stress is often accompanied by an elevation of core body […]
Surface temperature changes in response to handling in domestic chickens
Abstract Stress-induced hyperthermia (SIH) occurs in numerous species and is characterised by an increase in core body temperature, and a decrease in surface temperature, of between 0.5 and 1.5 °C within 10 to 15 min of the onset of “emotional stress”. The aim of the current study was to ascertain whether the husbandry-relevant procedure of […]
Skin temperature reveals the intensity of acute stress
Acute stress triggers peripheral vasoconstriction, causing a rapid, short-term drop in skin temperature in homeotherms. We tested, for the first time, whether this response has the potential to quantify stress, by exhibiting proportionality with stressor intensity. We used established behavioural and hormonal markers: activity level and corticosterone level, to validate a mild and more severe […]
Hot chicks, cold feet
Infrared thermography (IRT) is increasingly applied as a noninvasive technique for measuring surface body temperature alterations related to e.g. stress, emotions and leg pathologies in avian species. As a basis for the validation of IRT as a future tool for veterinary diagnostics such as detection and/or prediction of subclinical footpad pathologies in broiler chickens, this […]
Body temperature responses to handling stress in wintering Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus L.)
Body temperature variation in response to acute stress is typically characterized by peripheral vasoconstriction and a concomitant increase in core body temperature (stress-induced hyperthermia). It is poorly understood how this response differs between species and within individuals of the same species, and how it is affected by the environment. We therefore investigated stress-induced body temperature […]