Níveis críticos do Índice de Conforto Térmico para ovinos da raça Santa Inês criados a pasto no agreste do Estado de Pernambuco

Abstract

The objective of this research was to estimate the critical values of the Thermal Comfort Index (TCI) for Santa Inês sheep under grazing conditions, based on physiological parameters. The experiment was conducted from January to April in the agreste region of Pernambuco State. The rectal temperature (RT) and respiratory rate (RR) were evaluated three times a week in the morning and in the afternoon. The environment was monitored daily, in a meteorological station installed next to the paddock. The measurements for regression analysis were obtained from 15 Santa Inês sheep with five animals for each color: white, chestnut, and black. Based on the RT, the estimated critical values of TCI for white, chestnut, and black sheep were, respectively, 46.3, 45.5 and 44.5. Based on the RR, the estimated critical value of TCI was 38.0 for the animals of all three coat colors.