September, 1953] M.T. RAGAB, M.A. GHANY, AND A. A. ASKER 213
5. Sprinkling for five minutes followed by shading outdoor for one hour
As it is shown in Table VI, this procedure caused a decline in both body tem-
perature and respiration rate in all groups of animals except native cattle. The
difference between the effect of this treatment and that of sprinkling for three
minutes then shading outdoor for one hour was not appreciable. Increasing the
time of sprinkling from 3 to 5 minutes does not seem to be responsible for making
the animals feel more comfortable. The pulse rate as in all other treatments was
not consistent in its magnitude.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
The use of shade whether outdoor or indoor, preceded by a sprinkling, was
investigated as a means of combatting the unfavourable effects of hot atmospheric
conditions on buffaloes, Egyptian cattle, pure and graded Shorthorns and pure
Jerseys. The idea of trying those different procedures was to know the best system
of management which will be more elaborate in keeping those animals comfortable
under Egyptian summer conditions.
The methods of sprinkling adopted in this investigation did not cause a remarkable
decline in body temperature, respiration rate and pulse rate of animals to justify
its use. This may be due to the limited air movement at such time of the year.
Moreover, sprinkling was practised for a rather short time (3 and 5 minutes), com-
pared to longer periods of time previously recorded by Seath and Miller [1947,
1948a and 1948b]. Sprinkling, hosing or any other water wetting device, would
not appreciably affect the animals' temperature and respiration rate unless they
are either practised on the animals for a sufficiently long time or followed by an
artificial moving current of air. Thus the animals could keep their normal body
temperature through the dissipation of excess heat by conduction and vapori-
zation. Sprinkling, in general, is not the kind of treatment which is advised to
the Egyptian farmer, since it needs special devices not available in the country
at the present time, and if sought, they will be costly and beyond his means. When
sprinkling was followed by shading, the combined effect resulted in bringing the
animals to their normal conditions more rapidly after one hour of shading.
Shading was proved to be the most favourable cooling treatment discussed
in this study. When it was practised outdoor, its effect was noticed quickly and
in a more pronounced way than in the case of indoors. The abundance of shade
outdoor where there are trees, makes this system of cooling the most appropriate
and highly recommended to the farmer in this country.
At any rate, if animal production is to be practised more intensively in the
Egyptian agriculture, it becomes necessary to think of building airy and shady types
of housing for animals.
In comparing the different groups of animals used in this experiment, the
Egyptian cattle was found to be very stable in its reactions to the different treat-
ments. This, added to its ability to withstand exposure to sun [Asker, et al., 1952],
denotes to its profound suitability for the environmental conditions in this country.
The buffaloes and pure Shorthorns were the most sensitive to the effect of exposure to
sun ; here they also proved to be the most sensitive in their reactions to shade and
sprinkling, since their temperature and respiration rate decreased more rapidly.
5AR/53