EFFECT OF SEASONAL VARIATION ON THE TEMPERATURE, THICKNESS, HYDRATION AND ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY OF THE SKIN OF ONE-HUMPED CAMELS (Camelus dromedaries) | ||||
| Journal of Animal and Poultry Production | ||||
| Article 6, Volume 2, Issue 10, October 2011, Page 439-456 PDF (565.09 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/jappmu.2011.83408 | ||||
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| Authors | ||||
| Afaf A. Abdel-Hameed1; Wissam T. El-Zeiny1; S. A. Zaakoug2 | ||||
| 1Animal Physiology Dept., Desert Res. Center, Al Matareya, Cairo, Egypt | ||||
| 2Zoology Dept., Fac. Sci., Al-Azhar University, Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Skin temperature is essentially a resultant of heat production and heat loss, and as these two factors may be altered by wide ranges in environmental conditions, the present study was conducted to compare the influence of hot (summer) and cold (winter) environmental temperatures on the diurnal variations of surface skin temperature (SST), skin thickness (ST), skin hydration (SH%), skin electrical conductivity and live body weight (LBW) changes of the dromedary camels during both seasons. The study was carried out at Maryout Research Station, 35km Southwest Alexandria, which belongs to Desert Research Center (DRC), Egypt. Five adult healthy she-camels (Camelus dromedarius), 6-8 years old, with initial body weight of 522.0±3.52 and 613.0±6.63 kg for summer and winter seasons, respectively, were used. The animals were kept in unshaded outdoor pen. Surface skin temperature (SST), skin thickness (ST) and skin hydration (SH%) were measured at seven regions including Neck (NE), Shoulder (SH), Hump (HU), Hip (HI), Fore-limb(FL), Hind-limb (HL) and Abdomen (AB) on both right and left sides of the animal’s body. Measurements were taken three times daily (06:00, 12:00 and 18:00 hr) during the middle ten days of each month in both summer (from June till August) and winter (from December till February) seasons. The daily diurnal ambient temperature, relative humidity and solar radiation were also measured at 06:00, 12:00 and 18:00 hr. The results indicated that SSTdiffered significantly (P<0.01) between hump (the site more exposed to sun) and abdomen (less exposed to sun). The differences between the two values were 5.13 and 6.44ºC during summer and winter seasons, respectively. The differences between SST at the selected sites were the highest (P<0.01) under cold climatic conditions (winter) than warm climatic conditions (summer). As expected, measured SST at mid-day (12:00 hr) was consistently higher than measured SST at morning (06:00 hr) and evening (18:00 hr), but was significantly higher during summer than winter. As for skin thickness, theNE, SH, HU and HI sites were significantly (P<0.01) thicker and higher of its water content than the other sites during both summer and winter seasons. Values of ST and SH% were higher during winter compared with summer values. This rise may be attributed to the increase in fat stored in subcutaneous layers and to the increase in body fluids. The values of the electrical conductivity of the skin were higher in winter months than in summer months. The neck region had the highest values while the fore limb had the lowest values in both summer and winter. There was a positive correlation between the electrical conductivities of the different skin regions and the water content of the same region in summer and winter. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| One-humped camel; skin temperature; skin thickness; skin hydration; seasonality | ||||
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