Slee J, Griffiths R G, Samson D E
Res Vet Sci. 1980 May;28(3):275-80.
A progressively cooling water bath technique was developed to measure resistance to body cooling in newborn lambs. Cold resistance, defined as the time taken to reduce rectal temperature to 35 degrees C, was measured in 429 lambs of 12 different breeds individually immersed in a water bath. Two alternative procedures were used with water temperature falling from 37 degrees C to 12 degrees C or from 25 degrees C to 10 degrees C. In lambs tested twice the repeatability of cold resistance was high: 0.95 and 0.81 respectively in the two types of test. There were clear breed differences in cold resistance, some breeds being up to three times more resistant than others. Health was unimpaired by treatment and preweaning mortality was not affected. Ten of the breeds represented in water bath tests were also used for measurements of rectal temperature 1 h after birth in the field. There was some similarity in the breed rank order for ability to resist hypothermia in the field and in the water bath. Water bath tests of hypothermia in lambs could facilitate genetic selection for improved perinatal survival in the field.
开发了一种逐步冷却水浴技术来测量新生羔羊对身体降温的抵抗力。抗寒能力定义为将直肠温度降至35摄氏度所需的时间，在单独浸入水浴的429只12个不同品种的羔羊中进行了测量。采用了两种不同的程序，水温分别从37摄氏度降至12摄氏度或从25摄氏度降至10摄氏度。在接受两次测试的羔羊中，抗寒能力的重复性很高：在两种测试类型中分别为0.95和0.81。抗寒能力存在明显的品种差异，一些品种的抗寒能力比其他品种高出三倍。处理对健康没有损害，断奶前死亡率也未受影响。水浴测试中所涉及的10个品种也用于在野外测量出生后1小时的直肠温度。在野外和水浴中抵抗体温过低的品种排名顺序有一些相似之处。羔羊的水浴低温测试有助于在野外进行遗传选择，以提高围产期存活率。
