Some effects of repeated handling on stress responses in sheep

Repeated exposure to a handling treatment was investigated as a possible method of reducing the stress response to shearing. Sheep were exposed to sham shearing (a procedure in which no wool is removed, but which otherwise resembles shearing) on four occasions at two-week intervals. The peak cortisol response to this procedure was not affected, but concentrations of plasma cortisol declined more rapidly to lower baseline concentrations after...