Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-r7xzm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-29T00:42:56.378Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Ewe and lamb contact at lambing is influenced by both shelter type and birth number

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2010

J. C. Broster*
Affiliation:
EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation, Industry & Investment NSW and Charles Sturt University, Locked Bag 588, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia
R. L. Dehaan
Affiliation:
EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation, Industry & Investment NSW and Charles Sturt University, Locked Bag 588, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia
D. L. Swain
Affiliation:
EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation, Industry & Investment NSW and Charles Sturt University, Locked Bag 588, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia
M. A. Friend
Affiliation:
EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation, Industry & Investment NSW and Charles Sturt University, Locked Bag 588, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia
*
Get access

Abstract

A significant number of lambs born each year in Australia die within 72 h of birth. Periods of high wind, combined with rain and low temperatures can lead to marked increases in the mortality level. Under these climatic conditions mortality levels may be reduced with the provision of shelter. This study used contact loggers to compare interactions between ewes with twin lambs across two shelter types (Hessian and shrubs), while also comparing ewes with single and twin lambs in a single shelter type (Hessian). The contact loggers record the time of the initial contact (within approximately 4 to 5 m) between collared animals and the duration of each contact. Contact levels between ewes immediately after lambing were only 10% of the initial levels (1 h/day). For single-born lambs, lambs averaged 11 h contact per day with their mother, while for twinborn lambs, each lamb averaged 9.25 h/day with its mother and 14.7 h/day with its sibling. The level of contact between ewes and each of their offspring in the Hessian was 24% lower (P < 0.05) for ewes with twin lambs than with singles. For ewes with twin lambs the level of contact was 17% lower (P < 0.05) in the Hessian shelter compared with shrub shelter. We conclude that shelter type and birth number can affect the level of contact between ewes and their offspring.

Type
Full Paper
Copyright
Copyright © The Animal Consortium 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexander, G 1988. What makes a good mother? Components and comparative aspects of maternal behaviour in ungulates. Proceedings of the Australian Society of Animal Production 17, 2541.Google Scholar
Alexander, G, Lynch, JJ 1976. Phalaris windbreaks for shorn and fleeced lambing ewes. Proceedings of the Australian Society of Animal Production 11, 161164.Google Scholar
Alexander, G, Lynch, JJ, Mottershead, BE 1979. Use of shelter and selection of lambing sites by shorn and unshorn ewes in paddocks with closely or widely spaced shelters. Applied Animal Ethology 5, 5169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alexander, G, Lynch, JJ, Mottershead, BE, Donelly, JB 1980. Reduction in lamb mortality by means of grass wind-breaks: results of a five-year study. Proceedings of the Australian Society of Animal Production 13, 329332.Google Scholar
Alexander, G, Stevens, D, Kilgour, R, de Langen, H, Mottershead, BE, Lynch, JJ 1983. Separation of ewes from twin lambs: incidence in several sheep breeds. Applied Animal Ethology 10, 301317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arnold, GW, Pahl, PJ 1974. Some aspects of social behaviour in domestic sheep. Animal Behaviour 22, 592600.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cleugh, H 1998. Effects of windbreaks on airflow, microclimates and crop yields. Agroforestry Systems 41, 5584.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donnelly, JR 1984. The productivity of breeding ewes grazing on Lucerne or grass and clover pastures on the Tablelands of southern Australia. III. Lamb mortality and weaning percentage. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 35, 709721.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dwyer, CM, Lawrence, AB 1999. Ewe-ewe and ewe-lamb behaviour in a hill and a lowland breed of sheep: a study using embryo transfer. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 61, 319334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Egan, JK, Thompson, RL, McIntyre, JS 1976. An assessment of overgrown Phalaris tuberosa as shelter for newborn lambs. Proceedings of the Australian Society of Animal Production 11, 157160.Google Scholar
Ewbank, R 1967. Behaviour of twin cattle. Journal of Dairy Science 50, 15101512.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GenStat 2006. GenStat Release 9.1 Copyright 2006. Lawes Agricultural Trust.Google Scholar
Haughey, KG 1991. Perinatal lamb mortality – its investigation, causes and control. Journal of the South African Veterinary Association 62, 7891.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hight, GK, Jury, KE 1970. Hill country sheep production II. Lamb mortality and birth weights in Romney and Border Leicester × Romney flocks. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 13, 735752.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hinch, GN, Lecrivain, E, Lynch, JJ, Elwin, RL 1987. Changes in maternal-young associations with increasing age of lambs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 17, 305318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jefferies, BC 1961. Body condition scoring and its use in management. Tasmanian Journal of Agriculture 32, 1921.Google Scholar
Kleemann, DO, Walker, SK 2005. Fertility in South Australian commercial Merino flocks: sources of reproductive wastage. Theriogenology 63, 20752088.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Knight, TW, Oldham, CM, Smith, JF, Lindsay, DR 1975. Studies in ovine infertility in agricultural regions in Western Australia: analysis of reproductive wastage. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 15, 183188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knight, TW, Wilson, LD, Lynch, PR, Hockey, H-UP 1989. Slope and choice of birth sites by ewes. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 32, 193198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langbein, J, Scheibe, KM, Eichhorn, E 1998. Investigations on periparturient behaviour in free-ranging mouflon sheep (Ovis orientalis musimon). Journal of Zoology 244, 553561.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lent, P 1974. Mother-infant relationships in ungulates. In Behaviour of ungulates and its relationship to management (ed. V Geist and F Walther), pp. 1455. IUCN, Mordes, Switzerland.Google Scholar
Lidfors, L, Jensen, P 1988. Behaviour of free-ranging beef cows and calves. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 20, 237247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lynch, JJ, Alexander, G 1976. The effect of gramineous windbreaks on behaviour and lamb mortality among shorn and unshorn Merino sheep during lambing. Applied Animal Ethology 2, 305325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McBride, G, Arnold, GW, Alexander, G, Lynch, JJ 1967. Ecological behaviour of domestic animals. Proceedings of the Ecological Society of Australia 2, 133165.Google Scholar
Miller, BV 1991. Pregnancy and lambing. In Australian sheep and wool handbook (ed. DJ Cottle), pp. 119143. Inkata Press, Melbourne, Australia.Google Scholar
Morgan, PD, Arnold, GW 1974. Behavioural relationships between Merino ewes and lambs during the four weeks after birth. Animal Production 19, 169176.Google Scholar
Mullen, J, Matis, T, Adams, K, Rangan, S 2004. Achieving robust protocols for mobile ad-hoc networks. Proceedings of the IERC (Industrial Engineering Research Conference).Google Scholar
Nowak, R 1996. Neonatal survival: contributions from behavioural studies in sheep. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 49, 6172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nowak, R, Lindsay, DR 1992. Discrimination of Merino ewes by their newborn lambs: important for survival? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 34, 6174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nowak, R, Porter, RH, Levy, F, Orgeur, P, Schaal, B 2000. Role of mother-young interactions in the survival of offspring in domestic mammals. Reviews of Reproduction 5, 153163.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Obst, JM, Ellis, JV 1977. Weather, ewe behaviour and lamb mortality. Agricultural Record 4, 4449.Google Scholar
Owens, JL, Bindon, BM, Edey, TN, Piper, LR 1985. Behaviour at parturition and lamb survival of Booroola Merino sheep. Livestock Production Science 13, 359372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plant, JW 2004. Perinatal lamb mortality. In Sheep medicine, proceedings 355, pp. 195212. The Post Graduate Foundation in Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.Google Scholar
Scales, GH, Burton, RN, Moss, RA 1986. Lamb mortality, birthweight and nutrition in late pregnancy. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 29, 7582.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shillito-Walser, EE, Willadsen, S, Hague, P 1981. Pair association between lambs of different breeds born to Jacob and Dalesbred ewes after embryo transplantation. Applied Animal Ethology 7, 351358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stevens, D, Alexander, G, Lynch, JJ 1981. Do Merino ewes seek isolation or shelter at lambing? Applied Animal Ethology 7, 149155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swain, DL, Bishop-Hurley, GJ 2007. Using contact logging devices to explore animal affiliations: quantifying cow-calf interactions. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 102, 111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Eimern, J, Karschon, R, Razumova, LA, Robertson, GW 1964. Windbreaks and shelterbelts. World meteorological organisation, technical note no. 59.Google Scholar
Welch, R, Kilgour, R 1970. Mis-mothering among Romneys. New Zealand Journal of Agriculture 121, 2627.Google Scholar
Wood-Gush, DGM, Hunt, K, Carson, K, Dennison, SGC 1984. The early behaviour of suckler calves in the field. Biology of Behaviour 9, 295306.Google Scholar