The use of noninvasive techniques to evaluate stress responses in animals has become an increasingly popular method of animal welfare assessment in both production animals and wildlife. In particular, using fecal samples to measure fecal cortisol metabolites (FCMs) as a quantitative measure has proven ideal as samples can be collected remote to the animal after defecation without the need for invasive procedures. Colorimetric enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) have been shown to have a high level of selectivity and sensitivity for FCM concentration analysis, equivalent to the traditionally used radioimmunoassay. Regardless of the assay system used, species- and sample-specific validation must be undertaken to ensure the reliability of results, particularly where sampling is undertaken in a novel species or where environmental conditions might impact FCM stability in the fecal sample. To determine the limit of environmental exposure acceptable for analysis of FCM concentrations in ovine scat samples collected from a paddock under conditions of stable heat and humidity, this study quantified FCMs in ovine feces shortly after defecation (2–7 h) and after timed environmental exposure (1–9 d). Samples were determined to show stable FCM concentrations for up to 5 d by this analysis. Understanding the impacts of environmental exposure, and therefore the viability of remote fecal collection methods for quantitative analysis of FCM by EIA, is important to assess the utility of noninvasive measures of endocrine status in animals where the exact timing of defecation may not be known.

在生产动物和野生动物中，使用非侵入性技术评估动物的应激反应已成为一种越来越普遍的动物福利评估方法。特别地，使用粪便样品测量粪便皮质醇代谢物（FCMs）作为定量方法已被证明是理想的，因为排便后可以将样品收集到动物附近，而无需进行侵入性操作。已显示比色酶免疫测定（EIA）对FCM浓度分析具有很高的选择性和灵敏度，相当于传统上使用的放射免疫测定。无论使用哪种测定系统，都必须进行针对特定物种和样品的验证，以确保结果的可靠性，特别是在新物种中进行采样或环境条件可能会影响粪便样本中FCM稳定性的地方。为了确定在稳定的热和湿度条件下分析从围场采集的绵羊粪便中的FCM浓度可接受的环境暴露极限，本研究对排便后（2-7小时）和定时环境暴露后不久的粪便中的FCM进行了定量。 （1–9 d）。通过该分析，确定样品显示出长达5天的稳定FCM浓度。了解环境暴露的影响以及因此通过EIA进行FCM定量分析FCM的远程粪便收集方法的可行性，对于评估可能未知排便确切时间的动物内分泌状态的非侵入性测量方法的实用性很重要。