Abstract
Small ruminants (sheep and goats) play a major role in the economy of million people, and have provided meat, milk, skin, wool and fiber for centuries. Stress is the body's mechanism for responding to a challenge or a problem. In response to a stressor, an organism undergoes physiological or biological stress. Animals are exposed to many kinds of stressors, including heat stress (HS), nutritional stress, chemical stress, and psychological stress. Physiologically heat stress responses can be estimated by changes in intrarectal temperature (°C), respiratory rate (breaths/min), and heat tolerance index. To assess the impact of thermal stress on overall body functions in small livestock, it is necessary to include indicators that effectively demonstrate the extent to which vital body systems are affected. The inclusion of hormonal change indicators is one of the important aspects in assessing heat stress on animals; however, indicators of gastrointestinal function have not received significant attention in the research field. Accordingly, the research aims to shed some light on the important indicators related to the physiological response of small livestock under thermal stress conditions.