Forty five adult ewes were used, 15 for each of the three breeds: Hampshire Down (HD), Texel (TE) and Ile de France (IF). These animals were measured for rectal temperature (Rt), skin temperature (St), fleece temperature (Ft), temperature of the coat surface (Cst) and respiratory rate (Rr), Air temperature (At), air vapour pressure (Avp), wind speed (Ws), globe temperature (Gt) and radiant heat load (Rhl) were also recorded. The Thermal Comfort Index equation was used: TCI = 0.6678Ta + 0.4969e + 0.5444Tg + 0.1038v. Regression of TCI on Rt showed quadratic effect for the three breeds. For a TCI = 24.3, 27.3 and 20.6, Rt values were: 39.10ºC, for HD, 39.05ºC for TE, and 39.09ºC; for IF sheeps and for TCI=58, these values were respectively 40.40ºC, 40.50ºC and 40.28ºC. All the animals presented increased Rt under theses index, with Texel showed the least Rt for TCI=46, but was the only group with higher Rt values for TCI>48. For TCI=27.6, 29.7 and 27.0, Fr values were respectively: 89.63 resp./min. for HD, 77.08 resp./min. for TE and 78.77 resp./min. for IF. TE presented smaller Rr (77.08 resp./min.), for TCI=29.7, and values similar to IF (179.63 resp./min.), under TCI=48. After this level TE values were higher than those of the other breeds, reaching 288.66 resp./min. for TCI=56, but inferior that HD (289.01 resp./min.); IF, presented lower Rr (275.72 resp./min.). An extensive strip of land along the Parana State coast, heading inland 200 km up to the borders Castro, Telêmaco Borba, Laranjeiras do Sul and Pato Branco cities, allows the creation of the three breeds.
bioclimatical zoning; rectal temperature; respiratory rate; sheep
