Circadian Activity Rhythm in Sheep and Goats Housed in Stable Conditions

Abstract

PICCIONE G., GIANNETTO C., CASELLA S., CAOLA G. 2008. Circadian activity rhythm in sheep and goats housed in stable conditions. Folia biol. (Kraków) 56: [133][134][135][136][137].The aim of this study was to establish the circadian rhythm of total activity in sheep and goats kept in housed conditions. For our study five Comisana breed sheep and five Maltese breed goats were kept in an individual box of 12 m under artificial 12/12 light/dark cycle for 14 days. We equipped the animals with Actiwatch-Mini, by means of collars. A two-way ANOVA was used to determine significant differences between experimental treatments. A paired Student t-test was used to evaluate the differences between photophase and scotophase. The results show that activity in sheep and goats is mainly diurnal, the activity rhythm reaches its peak in the middle of the day. In conclusion small ruminants can be classified as diurnal animals, even though they show a variable amounts of activity.

Translational neurophysiology in sheep: measuring sleep and neurological dysfunction in CLN5 Batten disease affected sheep

“…Quantification of vigilance states (Fig. 1I) showed that normal and CLN5 −/− Batten disease affected sheep exhibited diurnal behaviour consistent with previous reports of sheep housed under similar conditions (Tobler et al , 1991; Piccione et al , 2008) with significantly more wakefulness during day-time (μ norm = 81.4 ± 2.1%; μ CLN5 −/− = 89.0 ± 2.9%) than during night-time (μ norm = 55.3 ± 7.2%; μ CLN5 −/− = 67.3 ± 4.6%; normal: t = 4.590, df = 4, P = 0.010; CLN5 −/− : t = 8.470, df = 4, P = 0.001).…”

Daily rhythms of behavioral and hormonal patterns in male dromedary camels housed in boxes

“…Our findings on daily activity patterns are also in agreement with previous studies. Locomotor activities of horses, goats, sheep and cows, housed individually in boxes, showed acrophase at the middle of the photoperiod (Bertolucci et al, 2008; Piccione, Caola & Refinetti, 2005; Piccione et al, 2008a; Piccione et al, 2008b; Piccione et al, 2010). An increase in relative activity from sunrise, reaching a peak toward midday, and then gradually decreasing in activity until sunset has also been described in wild Bactrian camels (Xue et al, 2015).…”

“…Daily rhythmicity of body temperature, cortisol and locomotor activity has been widely studied and described in many domestic animals, using different approaches, including diurnal index, conisor analysis and analysis of variance (Becker et al, 1985; Bohák et al, 2013; De Jong et al, 2000; Fulkerson, Sawyer & Gow, 1980; Giannetto et al, 2012; Martin et al, 2010; Piccione et al, 2010; Piccione et al, 2011; Piccione, Caola & Refinetti, 2002; Piccione et al, 2008b; Refinetti & Piccione, 2005; Thun et al, 1981). Disruption of daily rhythmicity can be associated with health problems, reduced life expectancy and altered well-being of the organism (Froy, 2011; Vitaterna, Takahashi & Turek, 2001).…”

Intraocular pressure and tear secretion in Saanen goats with different ages

“…Healthy cats treated with ocular hypotensive agents, and in those with uveitis and glaucoma, IOP rhythmicity is maintained (with higher values at night), even when animals are kept under dark conditions (Del Sole et al 2007, Ribeiro et al 2008b. Although the caprine species are considered to have daily habits (Piccione et al 2008b), studies evaluating periods longer than three days and performed under different conditions, seem to be necessary to clarify the importance of daily rhythmicity over IOP in this species.…”

“…Studies in attempt to standardize intraocular pressure and tear secretion at different hours of the day and in different situations have been carried out in dogs, cats and horses (Gelatt & MacKay 1998, Hartley et al 2005, Del Sole et al 2007, Piccione et al 2008a, Ribeiro et al 2008b, Bertolucci et al 2009). Goats present a higher level of activity in the middle of the day (Piccione et al 2008b); for this reason, it is reasonable to hipothesize that intraocular pressure and tear secretion values as being lower during the evening.…”