HEART-RATE RESPONSES AND PLASMA-CORTISOL AND BETA-ENDORPHIN CONCENTRATIONS IN EWES SUBJECTED TO LAPAROSCOPY AND ITS ASSOCIATED HANDLING PROCEDURES

Two experiments were performed to monitor the stress responses of shee p to intra-uterine insemination by laparoscopy and its associated hand ling procedures. The results of experiment 1 indicated that both restr aint alone and full laparoscopic intra-uterine insemination in animals which had been sedated with 0.2 mg/kg diazepam promoted similar, sign ificant (P<0.001) short-lived increase in heart rate and plasma cortis ol concentrations, but there was no effect of treatment on plasma beta -endorphin concentrations. Experiment 2 compared restraint and full la paroscopy, with and with out sedation in a 2 X 2 factorial design. The heart rate and cortisol responses following restraint and full laparo scopy were not significantly different, although laparoscopy tended (P =0.06) to increase the duration of the heart rate response. Sedation w ith diazepam significantly (P<0.05) increased the duration of the hear t rate response but attenuated (P<0.05) the amplitude of the cortisol response. These results indicate that laparoscopic intra-uterine insem ination does cause sheep to mount a typical stress response, but that most of this is attributable to the restraint required to effect insem ination. However, the magnitude of the stress responses recorded were much lower than those reported to follow many other husbandry procedur es.