Mitigation and animal response to water stress in small ruminants

Abstract

Water stress is usually related to heat stress and decreased feed intake; so its effect is difficult to separate. Small ruminants are able to better adapt to water stress than other species, especially breeds from regions under harsh conditions. Mitigation strategies to water stress will be needed to maintain animal production. Breeding strategies are difficult to implement, and omics technologies are approaches that can help us to unravel the biological mechanisms involved in water stress adaptation.