Distribution of Temperature in the Skin of Sheep exposed to Moderate Environments

Abstract

No systematic investigations of distribution of temperature of the skin of sheep are known to us. In the work recorded here temperatures were measured by handheld thermocouple probe at 22, 56 or 63 different points along the mid-dorsal and mid-lateral lines of the trunk and at 2.5 cm intervals from dorsal midline to hoof along the lateral surfaces of fore- and hind-limbs. Rectal and ear temperatures were also recorded. The measurements were made on shorn Southdown ewes after about 12 h fasting and again 40 min after feeding. The sheep were kept indoors in single pens on a ration of 800 g of lucerne chaff/day. Typical results for trunk skin temperatures are given in Table 1.