Bio-logging reveals heritable patterns of natural behaviours in sheep

Abstract

The measurement of behaviour in extensively managed livestock for the assessment of welfare remains a challenge. Bio-logging devices offer the opportunity to collect continuous behavioural data over long periods while animals are in their normal physical environment. Using collar-measured acceleration from 84 ewes over 28 days in a commercial flock, we built two-component daily phenotypic profiles with data-driven analysis techniques not reliant on human observations. Our analysis demonstrates the moderate repeatability of both components (0.58 ± 0.06 and 0.53 ± 0.05), the heritability of one component (0.53 ± 0.15), and environmental associations with wind chill index (−0.63 ± 0.13), and day length (−0.66 ± 0.19). We discuss these results in relation to previous work, showing that our methods of measurement and analysis are capable of revealing the daily patterns of behaviour in sheep and how these are influenced by the physical environment and genetics. This approach can be generalised to assess behavioural phenotypes and the determinants of behaviour in other breeds or species.