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Physiological, blood-biochemical and behavioural changes of Ghoongroo pigs in seasonal heat stress of a hot-humid tropical environment

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Abstract

The present study investigated the effect of seasonal heat stress on the physiological, behavioural and blood bio-chemical profile of adult Ghoongroo pigs (1.5–2 years of age) of different physiological groups. Thirty Ghoongroo pigs (10 boars, 10 non-pregnant sows and 10 pregnant sows) were allotted to individual pens. The study continued for 1 year covering three main seasons, i.e. summer (March–June), rainy (July–October) and winter (November–February) season. Temperature humidity index was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in summer (83.2 ± 0.47) followed by rainy (68.5 ± 1.13) and winter (66.8 ± 0.67) seasons, which indicated that pigs were exposed to heat stress during summer. Rectal temperature and pulse rate were not affected by group × season interaction but were affected by group (P = 0.002) and season (P < 0.001), which were usually greater during summer than during winter and in boars than in pregnant sows. Respiration rate was affected by group × season interaction (P = 0.002), which was greater in boars than in non-pregnant and pregnant sows during summer and rainy season but was similar in winter among the groups. Total erythrocytes, leucocytes counts, and cortisol levels were influenced by group (P < 0.001), season (P < 0.001) and group × season interaction (P < 0.001), which increased in summer compared with winter. Sodium and potassium concentrations in serum were not affected by group and group × season interaction but were affected by season (P < 0.001), which were lower in summer than in winter. All behaviour activities (standing, resting and roaming time, urination, fighting and drinking frequency) were affected by group (P < 0.001), season (P < 0.001) and group × season interaction (P < 0.001), except eating time that was only influenced by season. The present study suggested that Ghoongroo pigs experienced heat stress during summer, which was reflected in physiological, blood-biochemical and behavioural alterations.

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All mean data are presented in the tables. The individual data may be obtained from the corresponding author with a reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Govt. of India, is duly acknowledged for funding the project “ICAR-All India Coordinated Research Project on Pig, Project number AICRP 1006358 and Scheme code 14108.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Livestock Production and Management, West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, Belgachia, Kolkata, India

    Monanki Podder & Santanu Bera

  2. Department of Livestock Production and Management, ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Belgachia, Kolkata, India

    Syamal Naskar

  3. Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of Tripura, Krishi Vigyan Kendra Gomati, Amarpur, Tripura, India

    Dharma Sahu

  4. Department of Veterinary Physiology, West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, Belgachia, Kolkata, India

    Joydip Mukherjee

  5. Department of Animal Nutrition, West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, Belgachia, Kolkata, India

    Amlan Kumar Patra

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  1. Monanki Podder
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Contributions

SB, SN and MP conceived and designed research. MP and DS conducted experiments. MP and JM performed laboratory analysis. AKP and MP analysed the data. MP and AKP wrote and revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Amlan Kumar Patra.

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The laboratory and animal experiments were carried out strictly as per the guidelines issued by “Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA), Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India”, and were approved by the “Institute Animal Ethics Committee (IAEC) of Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Eastern Regional Station, Kolkata, West Bengal, India”.

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Podder, M., Bera, S., Naskar, S. et al. Physiological, blood-biochemical and behavioural changes of Ghoongroo pigs in seasonal heat stress of a hot-humid tropical environment. Int J Biometeorol 66, 1349–1364 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-022-02281-7

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