[Jacob-list] stressed sheep

[Kelly Przylepa and Rich Moore]

Is Your Sheep Stressed? Just Ask It

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Stressed-out sheep bleat out their anguish, U.S.
researchers reported on Tuesday.



They found that, like humans, sheep communicate stress by changing the
timbre of their voices.


Mark Feinstein of Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, said his
findings could help farmers and, of course, the sheep they herd.


An expert in bioacoustics, Feinstein did his work at Teagasc, an Irish
government agricultural research organization.


He isolated sheep and separated lambs from their mothers as part of his
experiments -- then recorded their bleats.


His recordings suggest that sheep express stress by altering the timbre of
their vocalizations, or the overall quality of sounds, rather than by
changing pitch or loudness.


Stress can be measured by taking an animal's blood, but it would be much
easier, cheaper and, yes, less stressful to simply listen, Feinstein said.