The behaviour of gestating dairy ewes under different space allowances

Averós, Xavier; Lorea, Areta; Heredia, I. Beltrán de; Ruíz, R.; Marchewka, Joanna; Arranz, J.; Estévez, Inma

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2013.11.002

Cited by 27 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…As a solution to this, sheep production is gradually shifting from extensive to intensive management, with increased housing of ewes during pregnancy and lactation, and housing at increasing stocking density. However, there is still little information available about the impact of sheep housing and stocking density on sheep production and welfare, although recent studies suggest that high stocking density results in behavioural disturbances, displacements and altered social interactions (Averòs et al, 2014a and2014b). It is, therefore, relevant to consider how this might also affect the behaviour of Chinese sheep breeds.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…High stocking densities affect sheep behaviour, physiology and welfare (Sevi et al, 1999;Caroprese et al, 2009;Averòs et al, 2014a and2014b), and it may also affect motheryoung interactions (Averòs et al, 2014a;Dwyer, 2014). Crowded conditions may exacerbate lamb desertion or separation behaviour in paddocks (Winfield, 1970) and are likely to be even greater in indoor housing conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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“…It is possible to test some of the confounding effects by conducting a more complex experiment, although it is never possible to totally isolate the independent effects of GS, space allowance, and enclosure size [15,16]. In a previous study the effects of density while maintaining a constant GS, but enclosure size changed [7,8]. In this study we tested the effects of GS while maintaining space allowance constant, thus enclosure size changed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dairy ewes are often indoors during part of their gestation, and it is possible that the resulting space restriction and imposed GS have undesired consequences. In this sense, it has been shown that limiting space availability influences ewes’ spatial distribution, movements and behaviour [7,8], even in cases of moderate spatial limitation [9]. Besides space allowance, the effects of GS need also consideration in indoor housed pregnant ewes since it will largely determine their social dynamics [10,11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Group Size on Welfare Indicators of Ewes during Pregnancy

et al. 2016

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Group size (GS) and space allowance have major implications for the welfare of production species, however their effects are often confounded. In a previous study we investigated the impact of varying space allowance at constant GS. In the present work we report the consequences of varying GS on pregnant ewes while controlling space allowance. We housed ewes at 6 (GS6) or 12 ewes/enclosure (GS12), while controlling space allowance to 1.5 m2/ewe (3 enclosures/treatment), and necessarily varying enclosure size. Therefore, when indicating GS effects we implicitly reflect a confounding effect with that of enclosure size. Movement, use of space, behaviour, serum cortisol concentration and body condition score (BCS) were collected during the last 12 gestation weeks. Movement, use of space, and behaviour were collected every other week, during 2 days/week, using 10 minute continuous scan samplings. Blood was collected during weeks 10, 13, 17, and 21 of gestation, and BCS during weeks 15 and 21. Data were analysed using repeated measures, generalized linear mixed models, with GS, week, and their interaction as fixed effects, and enclosure as random effect. GS mainly affected movement and use of space. GS12 ewes walked longer distances using longer steps (P<0.001). An interaction GS by week was observed for angular dispersion (P<0.0001), which was smaller for GS12 from week 10 onwards. Initial restlessness levels were lower for GS12, as shown by the reduced frequency of location changes (P<0.0001). Furthest and mean neighbour distances increased with GS (P<0.0001). The effect of GS on behaviour was only evident for eating behaviour as an interaction with gestation week (P<0.05). Changes in behaviour, movement and use of space along the study indicated an activity peak during weeks 3 to 5. Cortisol changes during gestation (P<0.01) also reflected this activity peak, while BCS (P<0.001) reflected normal physical condition changes during pregnancy. Although the separate effects of GS and enclosure size cannot be disentangled, we conclude that if enough space/ewe is given during gestation, larger GS will result in larger effective space, and no major implications for the welfare of ewes should be expected as GS increases. Ewes will adapt their movement patterns and use of space to enclosure size, and no further behavioural, physiological and physical consequences should be expected.

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“…Dairy sheep kept at low densities (2 m 2 per head) produced more milk, higher content of milk protein and fat, and had better udder health compared to sheep housed at higher densities (1.5 and 1 m 2 per head; Sevi et al, 1999). In a Spanish study less activity, as indicated by reduced movement and higher percentages of time at the feeder at 1 m 2 compared to 2 and 3 m 2 per ewe, was observed (Averós et al, 2014). Occurrences of both positive (sniffing, grooming, nudging, licking, etc.)…”

Section: Space Allowance Indoorsmentioning

confidence: 90%

Behavioural indicators of sheep and goat welfare in organic and conventional Norwegian farms

Hansen¹

2015

Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section A — Animal Science

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This literature review documents behavioural differences in organic and conventional sheep and goats in Norway. Increased indoor space results in increased lying time, more synchronized lying behaviour, less displacements and higher milk yield in sheep, and increased lying time and lower frequency of agonistic behaviour in goats. Sheep and goats spend 45-50% of their time outdoors when given access to an outdoor yard during winter. Under normal thermal conditions, fully fleeced sheep do not need solid floors of welfare reasons in Norway. Neither do dairy goats in insulated buildings. The significance of different milk feeding strategies in goat kids is poorly documented, but studies on lambs and calves show that suckling increases the growth rate, gives better social competence and more exploratory behaviour. Thus, the organic regulations in Norwegian sheep and goat production have some positive impact on behavioural indicators of sheep and goat welfare, especially during winter housing.

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The behaviour of gestating dairy ewes under different space allowances

Cited by 27 publications

References 33 publications

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

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

The Impact of Group Size on Welfare Indicators of Ewes during Pregnancy

Behavioural indicators of sheep and goat welfare in organic and conventional Norwegian farms

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