Washing lambs and confinement as aids to fostering

G. Alexander, D. Stevens, L.R. Bradley
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Abstract

The effects on maternal behaviour, of washing lambs and of confining ewes with alien lambs for several days, were examined in groups of Merino ewes that had lambed approximately 1, 3, 9 or 27 days previously. In the 1-, 3- and 9-day groups, 25–43% of ewes refused to allow their own washed lambs to suck and 7–47% permitted a washed alien to suck, though most were able to distinguish their own washed lamb from 2 washed aliens in a multiple choice test. In the 27-day group, all ewes permitted only their own washed lamb to suck. Similar results were obtained in the 4 age groups with the same lambs when only the hind half was washed, indicating that odour from this region is responsible for releasing suckling behaviour.

When ewes were penned together with washed alien lambs for at least 2 days, 73–100% of lambs in the 1-, 3- and 9-day groups either gained weight progressively or were seen to suck freely from the foster mother, while only 33% of lambs in the 27-day group were similary accepted. With unwashed lambs, the acceptance rate was approximately half that of washed lambs. Labelling the alien lamb with wool from the tail region of the foster ewe's own lamb also tended to facilitate fostering, but not to any marked extent. Where the ewe's own lamb was also present in the flock after fostering, foster ewes tended to revert to suckling their own lamb at the expense of the foster lamb, especially in the 9- and 27-day groups.

The use of washing coupled with close confinement appears to be an effective method of fostering lambs on to ewes, especially within the first day or two after birth.

Fifty-five % of ewes in the 1- and 3-day groups failed to accept their own unwashed lamb after being separated from it for only 40–48 h, indicating that the ewe's memory for lamb odour is transient and/or that the odour changes with time.

清洗羔羊和坐月子以帮助培育
对母性行为的影响,清洗羔羊和母羊与外来羔羊一起生活数天,在美利奴母羊组中进行了检查,这些母羊大约在1、3、9或27天前产羔。在第1、3和9天的组中,25-43%的母羊拒绝让自己洗过的羔羊吸吮,7-47%的母羊允许洗过的外星人吸吮,尽管大多数母羊能够在多项选择测试中区分出自己洗过的羔羊和2个洗过的外星人。在27天的小组中,所有母羊只允许自己洗过的羊羔吸吮。在4个年龄组中,同样的羔羊只洗后半部分,也得到了类似的结果,表明该区域的气味负责释放哺乳行为。当母羊与洗净的外来羔羊一起圈养至少2天时,第1、3和9天组中73-100%的羔羊体重逐渐增加,或者可以自由地吮吸养母的奶,而27天组中只有33%的羔羊被接受。对于未洗涤的羔羊,接受率大约是洗涤羔羊的一半。用母羊自己的羊的尾巴上的羊毛标记外来羔羊也有利于培育,但没有任何明显的程度。如果母羊自己的小羊在饲养后也出现在羊群中,寄养母羊倾向于以牺牲寄养小羊为代价恢复自己的小羊,特别是在9天和27天的组中。使用清洗加上封闭的禁闭似乎是一种有效的方法来培养羔羊母羊,特别是在出生后的头一两天。在第1天和第3天的组中,55%的母羊在与自己未洗过的羔羊分开40-48小时后就不能接受它,这表明母羊对羔羊气味的记忆是短暂的,或者气味会随着时间的推移而变化。
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