The effect of short term rest after handling stress on electrocardiogram indices in goat

This study examined the effects of short term rest after handling stress on electrocardiographic parameters, and evaluated the probable effects of age and sex on them. It was performed on 40 clinically healthy pure Raini goats. The animals were divided into four groups consisting of 10 male kids (up to one year old, 15-20 kg body weight), 10 female kids (up to one year old, 15-20 kg body weight), 10 female adult goats (1-5 years old, 25-35 kg body weight) and 10 male adult goats (1-3 years old, 20-40 kg body weight). Five minutes after transporting animals to a standing stock, the electrocardiograms were obtained from each goat. Our results showed that the proportion of sinus tachycardia in stress was significantly (P<0.05) higher than other cardiac arrhythmia in this study. It seems that the insignificant change in heart rate as a result of short term rest was due to insufficient time to reduce the effects of handling stress, and it was concluded that cardiac arrhythmias observed in the clinically healthy Cashmere goats in stress periods could be accepted as the physiological arrhythmias, so no treatment is necessary.