Relationship among eye and muzzle temperatures measured using digital infrared thermal imaging and vaginal and rectal temperatures in hair sheep and cattle.

Digital infrared thermal imaging (DITI) using a thermal camera has potential to be a useful tool for the production animal industry. Thermography has been used in both humans and a wide range of animal species to measure body temperature as a method to detect injury or inflammation. The objective of these experiments was to compare the temperature of the eye (EYE) or muzzle (MUZ) measured using DITI to vaginal (VT) and rectal temperature (RT) as measures of core body temperature in hair sheep and beef cattle. In Exp.1 EYE, VT and RT were measured in lactating, multiparous hair sheep ewes (St. Croix White, n = 10, and Dorper × St. Croix White, n = 10) in a non-febrile state 5 times over a 48-h peri- od. Data loggers were used to measure VT and a digital veterinary thermometer was used to measure RT. There was a high correlation (P 0.10) between RT or VT and MUZ. The findings of these three studies indicate that temperature of the eye, measured using DITI, can be used as an indicator of core body temperature in hair sheep and beef cattle as an alter- native to using vaginal or rectal temperature.