Teste de equipamento para coleta de saliva equina

Abstract

Equine farming has been present in society since the formation of civilization, helping in agriculture and day-to-day work and currently, the horse is considered a versatile animal, used for sports, work and leisure. Therefore, it is important to prioritize animal well-being, using less invasive techniques such as salivary analysis, which has great potential for measuring importante components such as molecular biomarkers of oxidative stress, the presence of macro and micro minerals, among others, and can be collected with reduced discomfort to the animal. Therefore, the objective of this work was to validate an instrument for collecting saliva similar to that used in the animal's daily life, such as the snaffle bit. The experiment was carried out at the Vento em Popa stud farm, in the city of Mairinque, SP. Five mares were used in the adult category, aged 3 to 9 years, submitted to the same dietary management with 4kg of feed offered at two periods of the day and mineral salt. A modified halter was made with polypropylene rope and a hollow copper pipe, with holes of the same size along its length and with its ends closed with screws. To collect saliva, 0.3g of cotton was used inside the tube. pipe. The tested permanence times of the headbutt on the animal were 5, 10 and 15 minutes, with an adaptation period of 30 minutes before starting the work. As a result, it was obtained that each animal needs to be observed separately, since saliva production is entirely linked to the nervous system, thus, each animal has a different nature. It was concluded that the tool is efficient for collecting saliva, but there is a need to increase the number of studies carried out on salivary volume.