Mitigating transportation stress in Bannur sheep: exploring the utility of innovative antioxidant supplementation in a hot-dry tropical climate.

An investigation was conducted to assess the efficacy of a novel antioxidant supplementation, Transcare, in alleviating transportation-induced stress among Bannur sheep. Thirty female Bannur sheep of 10-12 months, were selected and randomly assigned to two groups: Bannur Non-supplemented (BNS) (n = 15) and Bannur Supplemented (BS) (n = 15). The BS was supplemented with antioxidant powder (Transcare) orally at a dose of 10 g/animal, dissolved in 10 mL drinking water, 45-60 min preload. The antioxidants supplementation significantly (P < 0.01) influenced the variables such as pulse rate (after transportation), mean corpuscular volume (after transportation), glucose (after transportation) and HSP70 (after transportation), when juxtaposed between the BNS and BS cohorts. Marked reductions in transportation-induced stress were observed in Bannur sheep following antioxidant supplementation, as manifested by discernible alterations in stress-responsive metrics. These findings underscore the promising role of the novel oral antioxidant supplementation in alleviating transportation stress among Bannur sheep. Thus, advocating for the adoption of such supplementation strategies, particularly among economically constrained farmers, may present a viable approach to mitigate the economic ramifications associated with transportation-induced stress in sheep husbandry practices.