Skin biopsy samples were collected from twenty adult does of Saladi goats,
randomly chosen from the main flock raised in Maryout Research Station of the
Desert Research Center, at seasonally intervals representing spring, summer, autumn
and winter in order to study the histological and histochemical changes in the hair
follicle as well as the effect of different climatic conditions on their activities. In general, there was a significant effect of different seasons on the follicle
dimensions. The external diameter of both follicle types was most affected by
seasonal variations followed by internal diameter and the least affected was follicle
wall thickness. There was an increase in the external and internal diameters of both primary
and secondary follicles found in autumn and spring, while follicle wall thickness
showed a noticeable decrease in summer irrespective of follicle types. The histochemical analysis of the hair follicles showed a high follicle activity in
summer in the primary follicle and in autumn in the secondary ones and this could be
mainly attributed to the coat type which the animals need to adapt themselves to the
changing seasons by controlling the character of the hair coat and development of a
suitable coat for different seasons.