EWES AND LAMBS BEHAVIOURAL RESPONSES TO CHANGES IN LAMB’S COAT COLOUR: I. BLACKENING OF A PART OR WHOLE BODY IN EGYPTIAN BARKI SHEEP | ||||
| Journal of Animal and Poultry Production | ||||
| Article 1, Volume 2, Issue 10, October 2011, Page 375-385 PDF (445.3 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/jappmu.2011.83399 | ||||
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| Authors | ||||
| M. S. Abd-Alla; Rania Agamy; A . Y. Abdel-Moneim | ||||
| Dept. of Animal Production, Fac. Agric., Cairo University, Giza-Egypt. | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Twenty eight Barki ewes with their lambs were used to examine the effect of blackening of a part (whole body except head, rump with tail,around eyes and head) or whole body of lambs on maternal responsiveness of Barki (white breed) ewes during the 2 nd week after lambing. Ewes and lambs were separated (50 m away from each other) for 4 hours before test period. Behavioural displayes of dams and lambs were recorded for 10 min when lambs were introduced to dams. Blackening of a part or whole body of lambs reduced significantly (P< 0.01) number of acceptances at the udder compared with unblackened ones. Number of rejections at udder was significantly (P<0.05) less in unblackened lambs and those lambs with blackened eye region or blackened head. Lambs blackened, whole body except head, paced significantly (P<0.05) longer distance towards their dams. Lambs completely or partially blackened, including those with black rump, eye region or head, followed, respectively, in this order. Meanwhile, blackening treatment had a significant (P<0.05) effect on number of suckling attempts. The highest number of suckling attempts was exhibited by the completely black lambs, followed, respectively, by those of black rump and those with black body excluding head. Less suckling attempts were observed by lambs with black head and those with black region of the eyes. It could be deduced that vision seems to play an important role in discrimination between ewes and their lambs at the early stages of lamb’s life. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Maternal behaviour; blackening; Barki lambs; visual cue | ||||
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