Effects of packing (load carrying) on body temperatures and their circadian rhythms in donkeys (Equus asinus) during the hot-dry season.

The study aimed to evaluate the effects of packing (load carrying) on rectal and body surface temperatures and their circadian rhythmicity in donkeys during the hot-dry season. Twenty pack donkeys of both sexes (15 males and 5 non-pregnant females), aged 2-3 years, with average weight of 93 ± 2.7 kg and divided into two groups randomly, served as experimental subjects. Group 1 donkeys (packing + trekking) were subjected to packing in addition to trekking, while group 2 (trekking only) did not carry any load. All the donkeys were trekked, covering a distance of 20 km. The procedure was repeated three times within the week, one day apart. During the experiment, dry-bulb temperature (DBT), relative humidity (RH) and temperature-humidity index (THI), wind speed and topsoil temperature were recorded; and rectal temperature (RT) and body surface temperature (BST) were measured before and immediately after packing. Starting from 16 h after the last packing, circadian rhythms of RT and BST were recorded at 3-h intervals for 27-h period. The RT and BST were measured by digital thermometer and non-contact infrared thermometer, respectively. The DBT and RH, especially after packing (35.83 ± 0.2 °C and 20.00 ± 0.0%, respectively), were outside the thermoneutral zone for donkeys. The RT value (38.63 ± 0.1 °C) in packing + trekking donkeys recorded immediately (15 min) after packing was higher (P < 0.05) than the value obtained in trekking only donkeys (37.27 ± 0.1 °C). The overall mean RT recorded during the continuous 27-h period of measurement, starting from 16 h after the last packing procedure was higher (P < 0.05) in packing + trekking donkeys (36.93 ± 0.2 °C) compared with trekking only donkeys (36.29 ± 0.3 °C). The BSTs recorded in both groups were higher (P < 0.05) immediately after packing when compared with pre-packing values, but insignificant 16-h post-packing. The RT and BST values were generally higher in the photophase and lower during the scotophase in both groups of donkeys during the continuous recordings. The eye temperature was the closest to the RT, followed by scapular temperature, while the coronary band temperature was the farthest. The mesor of RT in packing + trekking donkeys (37.06 ± 0.2 °C) was significantly higher than in donkeys that were trekked only (36.46 ± 0.1 °C). The amplitude of RT in trekking only donkeys (1.20 ± 0.1 °C) was wider (P < 0.05) than that obtained in packing + trekking donkeys (0.80 ± 0.1 °C). The acrophase and bathyphase occurred later in packing + trekking donkeys (18:10 ± 0.3 h and 6:10 ± 0.3 h, respectively), compared to the trekking only donkeys (16:50 ± 0.2 h and 4:50 ± 0.2 h, respectively). In conclusion, exposure to thermally stressful prevailing environmental conditions during packing increased the body temperature responses, especially in packing + trekking donkeys. Packing significantly influenced the circadian rhythms of body temperatures in working donkeys, as evidenced by differences in circadian rhythm parameters in packing + trekking group, compared with trekking only donkeys during the hot-dry season.