Physiological responses of pre-ruminant kid goats and lambs to different environmental temperatures

The purpose of this study was to establish the metabolic behaviour of both preruminant kid gears and lambs, when they are kept at different environmen tal temperatures (12, 24 and 30 degreesC). The animals were fed ad libitum with a milk replacer for the first two months of life. Blood samples were t aken from all the animals on days 30, 40, 50 and 60 post partum, to determi ne serum levels of glucose, insulin, free fatty acids, triiodothyronine (T3 ) and thyroxine (T4), both when fasting and LC hours after starting feeding . The high sensitivity of both kinds ef animal to the lowest of the environ mental temperatures used, particularly for the first periods of life here c onsidered, was established from the glucose/insulin and T3/T4 molar ratios and from the concentrations of free fatty acids. The results obtained by sp ecies were also evidence of metabolic behaviour typical of leanner animals in kids.