Cutaneous evaporation and physiological responses of Canindé goats in equatorial semi-arid environment

This study aimed to evaluate the heat loss by cutaneous evaporation and physiological responses of goats Canindé in environment equatorial semiarid. We used 10 goats Canindé environmental conditions of Mossoró (5°11' S, 37°22' W, 18m above sea level), RN, Brazil. Samples were collected at intervals of one hour, starting at 07:00 and ending at 17:00. We evaluated the heat loss by cutaneous evaporation (Ec, W.m-2) and surface temperature (Ts, °C) under the effects of the environment (sun and shade) and for different body areas (neck, flank and thigh), and the interaction among these effects. It also assessed the effect of environment on respiratory rate (Fr, resp.min-1) and rectal temperature (Tr, °C). There was a significant effect of environment (P<0.01) on all the variables. The body region had a significant effect on Ec. Regarding the effect of body region on Ec, neck showed higher Ec average (51.26 W.m-2), differing only from the flank. We conclude that, when exposed to direct solar radiation, the breed goats Canindé activate evaporative mechanisms to dissipate excess heat gain from the environment. There were differences in regional cutaneous evaporation, which was most intense in the neck region.