Sweating in sheep

Abstract

Water loss from the sweat glands of shorn sheep was estimated as the difference between the average weight gain of desiccating capsules placed on 10 normal sheep and on 4 control sheep congenitally lacking sweat glands. At an air tempera ture of 20°C (68°F) and a water vapour pressure of 12.5 mm Hg the rate of svveating was 10.2 g/m2/hr, and at 40°C (104°F) and a water vapour pressure of 28.1 mm Hg the rate of sweating was 32.1 g/m2/hr. The maximum amount of heat a sheep could lose by sweating at the rate of 32 g/m2/hr under these conditions is c. 20 kcal/hr. It is emphasized that the rate of sweating observed in shorn sheep must not be applied unreservedly to sheep with a fleece, because the dynamics of water movement in the fleece are unknown.