Use of salivary cortisol as an indicator of stress due to management practices in sheep and calves.

Abstract

Saliva collection and cortisol radioimmunoassay techniques were developed to enable frequent, non-stressful monitoring of stress in sheep and calves. Thus, transitory stress responses due to transport, castration or confinement have been recorded and compared. Significant increases in salivary cortisol concentration occurred in sheep exposed to rough transport or when first confined in metabolism cages, and in calves following transportation or surgical castration. (