Hematologic and blood chemical characteristics of feral horses from three management areas.
Abstract: Blood was collected from 486 feral horses of mixed sex and age classes captured from three wild horse management areas in Nevada and Oregon from December 1985 to February 1986. Males were significantly outnumbered by females in the Flanigan area, but both sexes were represented in approximately equal numbers in the Wassuk and Beaty's Butte areas. Hematology and chemistry values averaged 16.4 +/- 0.11, 46.3 +/- 0.28, 9.9 +/- 0.07, 6.9 +/- 0.10, 47.1 +/- 0.24, 16.6 +/- 0.09, 35.2 +/- 0.09, 10.4 +/- 0.14 and 23.4 +/- 0.25 for hemoglobin (HGB), hematocrit (HCT), red blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), cortisol (F) and serum urea nitrogen (SUN), respectively. Statistically significant differences in HGB, HCT, RBC, WBC, MCV and MCH levels occurred with respect to age (P less than or equal to 0.001). Serum F levels were lower in immature animals than in either subadult or adults in all areas. Flanigan horses appeared in the poorest condition and had the lowest HGB, HCT and RBC counts while the values for Wassuk horses were significantly higher (P less than or equal to 0.001). Serum F levels were lowest in the Flanigan horses. A significantly lower (P less than or equal to 0.001) proportion of adult mares had progesterone levels consistent with pregnancy in the Flanigan horses versus those from the other two areas. These data are consistent with a subjective evaluation of the condition of the horses.
Publication Date: 1988-04-01 PubMed ID: 3373630DOI: 10.7589/0090-3558-24.2.231Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
- Research Support
- Non-U.S. Gov't
- Research Support
- U.S. Gov't
- Non-P.H.S.
Summary
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The research article is about a study on the blood and chemical characteristics of 486 feral horses from three different animal management areas in Nevada and Oregon, and how different variables like age and sex affect these characteristics.
Research Methodology and Data Collection
- Data for this research was sourced from blood samples collected from 486 feral horses of varying sex and age groups.
- The horses were captured from three wild horse management locations: Flanigan, Wassuk, and Beaty’s Butte areas in Nevada and Oregon within December 1985 to February 1986.
- The demography of the horses varied from area to area, with the Flanigan area having more females than males while the Wassuk and Beaty’s Butte areas had approximately equal numbers of both sexes.
Findings and Analysis
- Various hematologic and chemistry values were recorded from the horses’ blood samples. These included hemoglobin (HGB), hematocrit (HCT), red blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), cortisol (F), and serum urea nitrogen (SUN).
- Significant variations in the values of HGB, HCT, RBC, WBC, MCV, and MCH were found in relation to age. For example, the levels of serum F were lower in immature horses compared to subadult and adult horses across all locations.
- Flanigan horses were reportedly in the poorest health condition which was reflected by their having the lowest HGB, HCT, and RBC counts.
- On the contrary, horses in the Wassuk area exhibited significantly higher values and were considered to be in a better health condition.
- Of the horses examined, a significantly smaller percentage of adult mares from Flanigan had progesterone levels indicative of pregnancy compared to those from the other two regions.
- The results of the blood tests and chemical analysis align with the horses’ subjective health evaluations conducted by the researchers.
Cite This Article
APA
Plotka ED, Eagle TC, Gaulke SJ, Tester JR, Siniff DB.
(1988).
Hematologic and blood chemical characteristics of feral horses from three management areas.
J Wildl Dis, 24(2), 231-239.
https://doi.org/10.7589/0090-3558-24.2.231 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Marshfield Medical Research Foundation, Inc., Wisconsin 54449.
MeSH Terms
- Aging / blood
- Aging / physiology
- Animals
- Animals, Wild / blood
- Blood Chemical Analysis / veterinary
- Corpus Luteum / physiology
- Female
- Hematologic Tests / veterinary
- Horses / blood
- Male
- Nevada
- Oregon
- Reference Values
Citations
This article has been cited 8 times.- Medill SA, Janz DM, McLoughlin PD. Hair Cortisol Concentrations in Feral Horses and the Influence of Physiological and Social Factors. Animals (Basel) 2023 Jun 27;13(13).
- He RS, De Ruiter S, Westover T, Somarelli JA, Blawas AM, Dayanidhi DL, Singh A, Steves B, Driesinga S, Halsey LG, Fahlman A. Allometric scaling of metabolic rate and cardiorespiratory variables in aquatic and terrestrial mammals. Physiol Rep 2023 Jun;11(11):e15698.
- Nie D, Gui J, Zhao N, Lin Y, Tang H, Cai F, Shen G, Liu J, Zhang E, Chen M. Haematological and serum biochemical reference values in Chinese water deer (Hydropotes inermis): a preliminary study. BMC Vet Res 2020 Oct 20;16(1):395.
- Du X, Liu X, Mawolo JB, Wang H, Mi X, Dong J, Li Q, Wen Y. Determination of haematological and biochemical parameters of Calf Saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica) living in the Gansu Endangered Animals Research Center. Vet Med Sci 2020 Aug;6(3):591-599.
- Liu X, Mawolo JB, Du X, Zhou Y, Wang H, Liu F, He Z, Marela HA. Investigation of biochemical and physiological parameters of the newborn Saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica) in Gansu Province, China. PLoS One 2019;14(11):e0224822.
- Ono T, Yamada Y, Hata A, Shimokawa Miyama T, Shibano K, Iwata E, Ohzawa E, Kitagawa H. Reference values of hematological and blood biochemical parameters for the Noma horse. J Equine Sci 2019 Sep;30(3):69-73.
- Shawaf T, Hussen J, Al-Zoubi M, Hamaash H, Al-Busadah K. Impact of season, age and gender on some clinical, haematological and serum parameters in Shetland ponies in east province, Saudi Arabia. Int J Vet Sci Med 2018 Jun;6(1):61-64.
- Takasu M, Nagatani N, Tozaki T, Kakoi H, Maeda M, Murase T, Mukoyama H. Hematological and biochemical reference values for the endangered kiso horse. J Equine Sci 2013;24(4):75-8.
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