No abstract

Abstract. The aim of this paper was to assess if goat milking order was stabile over a long period and if milking order is influenced by horned ness, age, body weight, breed, social status and milk productivity. Milking order was studied in three periods: the second half of 1999, and the first and second halves of 2000. To verify the results statistically, a variance analysis (ANOVA), the least squares method and Spearman's rank correlation were used. The observed milking order of goats was non-random and very similar in the two consecutive years. Milk yield correlated with the milking order in two of the three periods (higher–yielding goats entered the milking parlour first). Social status as well as age affected milking order only in one period (dominant and younger animals came to the milking parlour earlier). In one period it was observed that body weight influenced the milking order at a marginally significant level (p = 0.0598). Heavier goats were milked before lighter ones. It can be suggested, that milk productivity is the strongest predictor of the animal position in the milking order. However, habits seems to influence milking order stronger than measurable traits. The own results were compared with other studies on milking order in cattle, sheep and goats.

No abstract

The Capra genus is sexually dimorphic, males are substantially bigger than females, they fight for mating privileges and sometimes even form harems. Thus Capra genus meets the assumptions of the Trivers-Willard hypothesis. However, in case of the domestic goat Capra hircus their reproduction is man-managed. We assessed whether maternal hornedness, maternal and paternal breed and age, maternal birth year, litter size, previous year offspring sex, and litter birth year influenced offspring sex ratio in the domestic goat. We examined 268 litters born in the years 1997-2002 at the Experimental Farm in Złotniki. The statistic methods used were logistic regression and Spearman rank correlation. The offspring sex ratio in the herd differed significantly from unity: 55.8% kids were females, p < 0.01. The factors that significantly influenced offspring sex ratio were maternal hornedness and maternal birth year. Horned dams (occupying high positions in the social hierarchy) produced fewer daughters (52.2% of offspring) than hornless nannies (62.2%). The fact that dams born later produce more daughters can be connected with their origin from different farms and worse environmental conditions in Złotniki in the consecutive years (because of the Experimental Farm financial problems). Moreover, Spearman rank correlation between sex ratio in the first and in the second litter was marginally significant and negative (R = -0.25, p = 0.061).Key Words: goat, offspring sex ratio, hornedness, social hierarchy Zusammenfassung Titel der Arbeit: Das Geschlechtsverhältnis der Nachkommen bei der Hausziege (Capra hircus) Die Gattung Capra ist durch geschlechtlichen Dimorphismus gekennzeichnet. Die männlichen Tiere sind deutlich größer als die weiblichen, sie kämpfen um die Möglichkeit der Kopulation und zeitweilig bilden sie Harems. Demnach erfüllt die Gattung Capra die Voraussetzung der Trivers-Willard-Hypothese. Bei der Hausziege Capra hircus wird die Fortpflanzung jedoch vom Menschen gesteuert. In vorliegender Arbeit wird untersucht, ob die Hornigkeit des Muttertieres, Rasse und Alter der Eltern, Geburtsjahr der Mutter, Größe des Wurfes, Geschlecht der Nachkommen im Vorjahr oder das Geburtsjahr des Wurfes das Geschlechtsverhältnis der Nachkommen bei der Hausziege beeinflusst. In die Untersuchung wurden 268 Würfe unterschiedlicher genetischer Gruppen, die in den Jahren 1997 bis 2002 geboren wurden, einbezogen und die Daten biostatistisch ausgewertet. Das Geschlechterverhältnis der geborenen Lämmer war ungleich und die männlichen Nachkommen erreichten einen Anteil von 55,8 % (p <0,01). Den relativ größten Einfluss auf das Geschlechterverhältnis übten die Hornigkeit und das Geburtsjahr der Mütter aus. Hornige Mütter, die einen höheren Rang in der sozialen Hierarchie haben, gebaren weniger Töchter (52,2 % der Nachkommen) als die hornlosen Mütter (62,2 %). Dass die später geborenen Mütter mehr Töchter gebaren, wird auf die Herkunft aus unterschiedlichen landwirtschaftlichen Betrieben sowie auf sich verschlechternde Umweltbedingungen...

No abstract

Body weight and some biometrical traits of ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) at different ages. Folia biologica (Kraków) 60: 79-84. Although the growth of pheasants is an important issue, there are few publications providing information on body weight and morphometrics of pheasants at different ages. The aim of this study was to investigate body weight, tarsus length, wing length and wingspan in farmed pheasants aged 3-16 weeks. The study was carried out on 50 pheasants (31 females and 19 males). All one-day old birds were marked and kept until the 16 JD week of life. In the 3 H@ , 8 JD , 12 JD and 16 JD weeks of life all pheasants were weighted and tarsus length, wing length and wingspan were measured. Male chicks appeared to be significantly heavier than females (P#0.01) already in the third week of life. Also their wings were longer and their wingspan attained higher values (P#0.05). Absolute gains of the majority of traits also differed between sexes (being larger in males) in all studied periods. Values of body weight, tarsus length and wingspan noted in the third week of life were significantly correlated with all later measurements. Thus body weight and some biometrical traits of pheasant chicks measured already at the 3 H@ week of life could be applied as predictors of future body weight and size.

European souslik (Spermophilus citellus) is an endangered species being the subject of reintroduction plan in some European countries, including Poland. It is important to obtain data about behavior of reintroduced species, especially a reaction to captivity of specimens prepared to release. The aim of this study was to evaluate influence of human exposure on sousliks behavior. Observed animals were kept in Poznań zoo in three enclosures. Two of them (called "high noise") were in part of the zoo available to the visitors, whereas one ("low noise") was in part closed for them. In "high noise" enclosures sousliks spent more time outside burrows and more specimens were present above ground. They also ate and ran more frequently in "high noise" enclosure, whereas emitted loud voices more often in the "low noise" one. In all enclosures more animals were present above grounds in absence of humans. Time spent by one souslik above ground was positively significantly correlated with the number of sousliks outside burrows. European sousliks observed in this study were used to humans and were less vigilant if they were exposed to permanent humans presence, but they did not become tamed and behave in a way similar to free living animals.

No abstract