Evaluation of management stress in the domestic animals by measuring behavior and heart rate variability

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In summer, grazing cattle carries out various grooming behavior (head swing, leg raising, tail swishing) for dispersing alighted flies, and the files seem to become a stress for the grazing cattle. Therefore the data logger for recording the tail swishing frequency as an index to the stress was developed, and the practicability was verified. Moreover, influence of alighted flies on grazing behavior, resting behavior and heart rate was examined. Our finding indicates that jaw movement frequency during grazing decreased by the appearance of the head swing. Grazing behavior and resting time were obstructed by the presence of flies. Also, heart rate in the stand-resting was higher significantly.The diurnal variation of body temperature, heart rate and body activity in the laying hens was examined by the mounting of the small telemeter in peritoneal cavity. The experiment was carried out by the setting of three stress environments as follows: feed withdrawal during 20 hours for two days (feed withdrawal trial), decreasing of floor space to 62. 5% (space restriction trial), and shortening of light period for 6 hours (light reduction trial). In feed withdrawal trial, heart rate, body temperature and body activity decreased. In space restriction trial, heart rate and body temperature increased in the light and dark periods, and in light reduction trial, heart rate decreased in the light period and increased in the dark period.Night posture, body temperature and electrocardiogram were recorded using the Kiso horse. Our observations indicate that electromyogratn which mixed in the base line of electrocardiogram disappeared in lateral lying and tachycardia intermingled with bradycardia. From these results, it is concluded that this period was in the REM sleep. Although power spectrum analysis of heart rate variability was carried out using the night electrocardiogram, it was not possible to evaluate autonomic nerves activity from each parameter.