ABSTRACT

Horses were provided full-time housing in unfamiliar vector-protected facilities during the African horse sickness (AHS) outbreak in Thailand. This study aimed to investigate the impact of this housing arrangement on the equine stress response. Nine healthy horses were housed in both a traditional barn and a vector-protected barn. Equine behavior and stress response data were collected in association with the housing environment and time of day. The mean behavioral score of horses housed in the vector-protected barn was lower at night than during the day. In addition, the horses’ mean heart rate at night was lower than their heart rate during the day, irrespective of housing condition. Furthermore, although blood cortisol peaked at 6:00 AM and was lowest at 6:00 PM under both housing conditions, daily fluctuations in blood cortisol levels were correlated with changes in humidity and temperature in both environments. Finally, horses housed in the traditional barn exhibited earlier decreases in cortisol levels relative to the horses in the vector-protected barn. This result indicates that housing horses in vector-protected facilities may impose stress.

摘要

在泰国爆发非洲马病 (AHS) 期间，马匹被安置在不熟悉的病媒保护设施中。本研究旨在调查这种住房安排对马应激反应的影响。九匹健康的马被安置在一个传统的谷仓和一个病媒保护的谷仓中。马匹行为和应激反应数据的收集与马舍环境和一天中的时间有关。在病媒保护的马厩中饲养的马匹的平均行为评分在夜间低于白天。此外，无论马舍条件如何，马匹在夜间的平均心率都低于白天的心率。此外，尽管在两种住房条件下，血液皮质醇在早上 6:00 达到峰值并在下午 6:00 达到最低，血液皮质醇水平的每日波动与两种环境中湿度和温度的变化相关。最后，相对于受病媒保护的马厩中的马，饲养在传统马厩中的马的皮质醇水平下降较早。这一结果表明，在受病媒保护的设施中饲养马匹可能会造成压力。