Separation of Ewes From Twin Lambs: Incidence in Several Sheep Breeds

Alexander, G.; Stevens, D.; Kilgour, R.; Langen, Henrika; Mottershead, B. E.; Lynch, J J

doi:10.1016/b978-0-444-42444-0.50017-6

Cited by 17 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…However, in Merino sheep, mortality of twins can be above that of singles of the same weight, suggesting that factors other than birth weight may be involved [32]. Deficient maternal care in Merino ewes, especially those bearing multiples, is mainly attributed to their poor ability to maintain contact with both of their twin lambs [33]. Disparity in the vigour of twin lambs may also be a cause of lamb deaths from desertion by Merino ewes, since weak vigour may lead to uneven bonding and the death of one, or both lambs.…”

Section: Birth Weight Litter Size and Suckling Drivementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Under extensive conditions, abnormal behaviour or external disturbances at this stage can lead to separation and death of young, especially in ewes giving birth to twins. In Merinos, the incidence of permanent separations of ewes and lambs range from 25 to 50% [32,33] and a further 30% of twin-bearing ewes may become temporarily separated from one of their twins in the first few days after parturition. The ewes separated from part of their litter appear satisfied that one lamb only is following.…”

Section: Getting Bonded To the Whole Littermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This shift in social motivation optimises the establishment of satisfactory mother-offspring relationships, while minimising the risk of interference by other pre-parturient ewes. Indeed, disturbances in the establishment of the mother-young relationship are common among ewes lambing in the presence of other parturient females [33,42]. Twenty percent of pre-parturient Merino ewes may be attracted to lambs of other ewes and interest ranges from brief inspection, grooming, suckling and even stealing of the newborn [43].…”

Section: Seeking Isolation and Selecting A Birth Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Proper establishment of a bond depends on the time spent on the birth site or nearby. Poorly bonded mother-young units that leave the birth site too soon after parturition have higher incidence of separations and higher mortality [24,33,59]. Ideally, ewes should remain on their birth site for at least six hours after parturition with the whole litter in order to attach strongly to all the lambs and optimise their chance of survival.…”

Section: Getting Bonded To the Whole Littermentioning

confidence: 99%

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From birth to colostrum: early steps leading to lamb survival

2006

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-New-born lambs have limited energy reserves and need a rapid access to colostrum to maintain homeothermy and survive. In addition to energy, colostrum provides immunoglobulins which ensure passive systemic immunity. Therefore, getting early access to the udder is essential for the neonate. The results from the literature reviewed here highlight the importance of the birth site as the location where the mutual bonding between the mother and her young takes place. Attraction to birth fluids by the periparturient ewe leads to intense licking of the lamb. Grooming not only dries, cleans and stimulates the newborn it also facilitates bonding through learning of its individual odour. Ewes having twins should ideally stay on the birth site for at least six hours in order to establish a strong bond with both lambs and favour lambs survival. However, primiparous ewes or ewes having high levels of emotivity are more likely to exhibit poor maternal behaviour. In addition, difficult parturition and weather conditions have an indirect effect on the behaviour of the mother and are other major causes of lamb death. On the lamb's side, rapid access to the udder and early suckling are extremely important. Delayed lactation or insufficient colostrum yield may be fatal especially since suckling has strong rewarding properties in the establishment of a preference for the mother, which in turn increases lamb survival. Insufficient access to the udder in mothers leaving the birth site too soon after parturition, especially in twin-bearing ewes, could also partly account for the high incidence of loss of mother-young contact and subsequent death in such lambs. Strategies to improve neonatal survival should be aimed at maximising lamb vigour, colostrum production, and mutual mother-young bonding through adequate feeding in late pregnancy and selection on behaviour.energy reserve / colostrums / suckling / maternal behaviour / bonding / ewe / lamb / nutrition / survival

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Section: Birth Weight Litter Size and Suckling Drivementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Getting Bonded To the Whole Littermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Seeking Isolation and Selecting A Birth Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Getting Bonded To the Whole Littermentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

From birth to colostrum: early steps leading to lamb survival

2006

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“…Crowded conditions may exacerbate lamb desertion or separation behaviour in paddocks (Winfield, 1970) and are likely to be even greater in indoor housing conditions. Ewes giving birth in crowded conditions are often unable to isolate themselves from the flock and may be interfered with by other ewes, or their lambs may become separated and be abandoned (Alexander et al, 1983). Gonyou and Stookey (1985) concluded that the use of cubicles reduced the incidence of poor maternal behaviour in housed ewes by giving them an opportunity to isolate themselves from other ewes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pen size and parity effects on maternal behaviour of Small-Tail Han sheep

Yang

Dwyer

et al. 2015

Animal

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The aim of this experiment was to study the effects of pen size and parity on maternal behaviour of twin-bearing Small-Tail Han ewes. A total of 24 ewes were allocated to a 2 × 2 design (six per pen), with parity (primiparous or multiparous) and pen size (large: 6.0 × 3.0 m; small: 6.0 × 1.5 m) as main effects at Linyi University, Shandong Province, China. Behaviour was observed from after parturition until weaning. All ewes were observed for 6 h every 5 days from 0700 to1000 h and from 1400 to 1700 h. Continuous focal animal sampling was used to quantify the duration of maternal behaviours: sucking, grooming and following as well as the frequency of udder accepting, udder refusing and low-pitched bleating. Oestradiol and cortisol concentrations in the faeces (collected in the morning every 5 days) were detected using EIA kits. All lambs were weighed 24 h after parturition and again at weaning at 35 days of age. The small pen size significantly reduced following ( P < 0.005), grooming ( P < 0.001) and suckling durations ( P < 0.05), as well as the frequency of udder refusals ( P < 0.001). However, there was a significant interaction with ewe parity, with decreased grooming and suckling in the small pen largely seen in the multiparous ewes ( P < 0.001). Independent of pen size, multiparous ewes accepted more sucking attempts by their lambs ( P < 0.05) and made more low-pitched bleats than primiparous ewes ( P < 0.001). Multiparous ewes had higher faecal oestradiol concentrations than primiparous ewes ( P < 0.001), and ewes in small pens had higher faecal cortisol levels compared with ewes in larger pens ( P < 0.001). As lambs increased in age, the duration of maternal grooming, following and suckling as well as frequency of udder acceptance and lowpitched bleating all declined, and the frequency of udder refusing increased ( P < 0.001 for all). Ewe parity, but not pen size, affected lamb weight gain during the period of observation ( P < 0.001). This is the first study to show that pen size, interacting with parity, can affect the expression of maternal behaviour in sheep during lactation. The study is also the first to report on the maternal behaviour of Chinese native sheep breeds (Small-Tail Han sheep), with implications for the production of sheep in China.

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Flawed mothering or infant signaling? The effects of deficient acoustic cues on ovine maternal response

Morton

Hinch

Small

et al. 2018

Developmental Psychobiology

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The neonate distress cry, which displays a similar acoustic structure across a range of mammalian species, is highly effective in attracting, even compelling, parental care. However, if this cry is defective, as found in human and rodent neonates with poor neurobehavioral function, is the signal less enticing? Using playback recordings of a ewe's own co-twins as stimuli in a two choice test, we compared the preference of each sheep dam for acoustic features of lamb distress calls to assess the impact of signal quality on maternal response. The results of this study indicate that lamb vocalizations with acoustic parameters reflecting poor vocal fold engagement and arousal were less likely to be preferred by their dam. Additionally, these calls were associated with delayed vocal initiation and poor infant survival behavior suggestive of subtle cognitive deficit; and support the possibility that, as in deer and rodents, ovine vocalizations within a specific fundamental frequency range may well be a trigger for optimal maternal behavior. This research has important implications for understanding failed maternal-young interactions in ungulate and other species, and for verifying standardization of infant stimuli used in maternal behavior studies.

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Separation of Ewes From Twin Lambs: Incidence in Several Sheep Breeds

Cited by 17 publications

References 11 publications

From birth to colostrum: early steps leading to lamb survival

From birth to colostrum: early steps leading to lamb survival

Pen size and parity effects on maternal behaviour of Small-Tail Han sheep

Flawed mothering or infant signaling? The effects of deficient acoustic cues on ovine maternal response

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