Estimation of heat exchanges in Boer crossbred goats maintained in a climate chamber

Exposure of goats to high air temperatures can induce physiological and behavioral adjustments, increasing the dissipation of excess body heat in the latent form, and intensification of the use of these thermoregulatory tools can result in physiological and productive damage to animals. With this, the objective of the research was to quantify the levels of thermal stress and the sensible and latent heat losses of Boer crossbred goats submitted to different air temperatures, in a climatic chamber. Six male crossbred goats of the Boer breed, with an average weight of 25.06 ± 4.43 kg and mean age of six months, were grouped using a completely randomized design, with three treatments (air temperatures of the 26, 30 and 34 °C, respectively) and six replicates (animals) with 68% relative humidity. The temperature and relative humidity of the air were collected to calculate the temperature and humidity index (THI) and heat exchanges. Were collected the physiological responses rectal temperature (RT) and surface (ST) and respiratory rate (RF), with these data were estimated the heat exchanges by radiation (L), convection (C_r), total sensitive (G_s), latent of the respiratory tract (E_r), cutaneous (E_c), total latent (E_t) and total heat exchange (W_t). It was found that the THI values were classified as thermal comfort, moderate stress and very stressful, respectively, in the three conditions evaluated. With the increase in AT, the animals significantly increased (P < 0.05) the RT, ST and RF, and consequently reduced sensitive heat exchanges, from 38 to 8%, and increased latent heat exchanges, from 62 to 92%, when compared air temperatures of 26 and 34 °C, respectively. Physiological responses showed a significant negative (P < 0.05) correlation with sensitive heat exchanges and a positive correlation with latent heat exchanges. In very stressful thermal conditions, the animals lost almost all of the excess metabolic heat by latent means (skin and respiratory tract).