Prolazna apneja u ovaca: alternativna metoda za uzastopno uzimanje uzoraka mokraće.

Urine samples are necessary in order to carry out many veterinary diagnostic and research protocols. In ovine, these samples are usually obtained through catheterization, but a transitory apnoea could be an easy way to obtain urine samples. This is achieved by preventing air from entering through the nostrils and mouth in sheep, for a short period of time, always less than 1 minute. The results of this transitory apnoea demonstrated that urine characteristics (pH, density and proteinuria) were not different from samples obtained by bladder catheterization. There were no differences in the blood parameters studied (cortisol, glycaemia, total proteins, haematocrit and total and differential leucocyte counts) either, when compared with the control group of catheterized animals, or with the measured values before or after sampling. In conclusion this system could be considered an easy and effective method to obtain urine samples, without causing stress to the sheep and avoiding the alterations to the blood and urinary parameters measured.Prikupljanje uzoraka mokraće nužno je radi provođenja mnogih veterinarskih dijagnostičkih postupaka i znanstvenih istraživanja. Ti se uzorci u ovaca obično uzimaju kateterizacijom. No, prolazna apneja može biti jednostavan način uzimanja uzoraka mokraće u ovaca. To se može postići zatvaranjem nosnica i gubice u kratkom vremenu, uvijek manje od jedne minute. Rezultati pretrage mokraće prikupljene nakon prolazne apneje pokazali su da značajke mokraće (pH, gustoća i proteinurija) nisu bile različite od onih dobivenih pretragom uzoraka uzetih kateterizacijom mokraćnog mjehura. Nije bilo razlike u pretraženim krvnim pokazateljima (kortizolu, glikemiji, ukupnim proteinima, hematokritu, ukupnim leukocitima i diferencijalnoj krvnoj slici) u usporedbi s kontrolnom skupinom kateteriziranih životinja, a ni u usporedbi s izmjerenim vrijednostima prije i nakon uzimanja uzoraka. Može se zaključiti da je opisani način uzimanja uzoraka jednostavan i učinkovit bez izazivanja stresa u ovaca i ne dovodi do promjena u pokazateljima krvi i mokraće

Extensive Sheep and Goat Production: The Role of Novel Technologies towards Sustainability and Animal Welfare

[EN] Sheep and goat extensive production systems are very important in the context of global food security and the use of rangelands that have no alternative agricultural use. In such systems, there are enormous challenges to address. These include, for instance, classical production issues, such as nutrition or reproduction, as well as carbon-efficient systems within the climate-change context. An adequate response to these issues is determinant to economic and environmental sustainability. The answers to such problems need to combine efficiently not only the classical production aspects, but also the increasingly important health, welfare, and environmental aspects in an integrated fashion. The purpose of the study was to review the application of technological developments, in addition to remote-sensing in tandem with other state-of-the-art techniques that could be used within the framework of extensive production systems of sheep and goats and their impact on nutrition, production, and ultimately, the welfare of these species. In addition to precision livestock farming (PLF), these include other relevant technologies, namely omics and other areas of relevance in small-ruminant extensive production: heat stress, colostrum intake, passive immunity, newborn survival, biomarkers of metabolic disease diagnosis, and parasite resistance breeding. This work shows the substantial, dynamic nature of the scientific community to contribute to solutions that make extensive production systems of sheep and goats more sustainable, efficient, and aligned with current concerns with the environment and welfareSIThe CECAV authors acknowledge financial support of the research unit, which was financed by the National Funds from FCT, the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), project number UIDB/CVT/00772/2020. Financial support from FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Lisboa, Portugal) in the form of infrastructural funding to LEAF (UID/AGR/04129) and PhD grants SFRH/BD/143992/2019 (DM Ribeiro) and 2021.07638.BD (L Sacarrão-Birrento). Author L.E.H.C. acknowledges funding from the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (Spain) (RYC2019- 027064-I/AEI/10.13039/501100011033