www.elsevier.comrlocaterapplanim
Behavioural interactions between West African
dwarf nanny goats and their single-born kids during
the first 48 hours post-partum
P.C. Addae
a,b, E.K. Awotwi
a,), K. Oppong-Anane
b,
E.O.K. Oddoye
ca
Department of Animal Science, UniÕersity of Ghana, PO Box 226, Legon, Ghana
b
Animal Production Directorate, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Accra, Ghana
c
Animal Research Institute, Achimota, Ghana
Accepted 22 November 1999
Abstract
West African dwarf nanny goats and their single-born kids were tested to find out their behavioural response to separation and their mutual recognition during the first 48 h post-partum. The tests were conducted at 18, 24, 36 or 48 h post partum. Chi-square analyses were used to determine whether age, sex and birth weight of kids as well as h partum and parity of dams had an effect on post-partum bahaviours.
In a preliminary study where the kids were not prevented from sucking prior to the tests, the
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majority of kids 93% and does 86% exhibited apparant minimal concern to separation i.e., had
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scores of less than 3 and also failed to seek each other. When the kids were prevented from sucking 2 h prior to the tests, the couple showed some response to separation and made attempts to seek each other. This suggests that in goats the state of the neonate’s nourishment and the fullness of the dam’s udder may be important factors that determine the willingness of the kid and the dam to seek each other when separated. The behavioural response of 48-h-old kids to
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separation from their dams when they had not sucked for 2 h was significantly higher P-0.05 than that of 18-h-old kids. The sex and birth-weight of 48-h-old kids did not affect their response to separation from their dams. Hours post-partum and parity of does did not affect their response to separation from their kids even though the proportion of does exhibiting the highest response
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was much higher in primiparous then multiparous animals 44% vs. 13% . Recognition of dams
)Corresponding author. Tel.:q233-21-775-180; fax:q233-21-500-180.
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E-mail address: agriclib@libr.ug.edu.gh E.K. Awotwi .
0168-1591r00r$ - see front matterq2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Ž .
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by kids was poor at 18 and 24 h with more than half 71% the kids failing to recognize their
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dams. Dam recognition ability improved with age and at 48 h the majority of kids 88% were
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able to recognize their dams. Does tested at 48 h post partum had better P)0.05 kid
recognition than those tested at 18 and 24 h. The sex and birth weight of kids and the parity of dams had no effect on the mutual recognition of kids and their dams at 48 h post-partum.q2000
Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Goat; Maternal–filial bond; Separation response; Recognition ability
1. Introduction
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Neonatal mortality in goats worldwide has been estimated to exceed 25% Davendra
.
and Burns, 1983 . In Ghana, preweaning mortalities of 42% and 53% have been reported
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for goats and sheep, respectively Awumbila and Sumani, 1992 . These authors reported that the majority of deaths occurred early in life. Mortalities of up to 24% have also
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been reported in local Malawian goats Rischkowsky and Steinbach, 1997 . Early
postnatal deaths in lambs and kids are due to climatic conditions, litter size, nutritional status of the dam, birth weight and maternal and neonate behaviour. The latter involves complex interactions between parents and offspring. During the first few hours post-partum, dams learn to distinguish their offspring from others. Their own offspring are
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suckled exclusively while aliens are rejected. A study by Licklitter 1982 , for instance, showed that in domestic goats, 2 h of mother–kid separation from birth disrupted maternal responsiveness in most primiparous does. On the other hand, 5 to 10 min of
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contact at birth resulted in at least partial maternal discrimination 1 h later Gubernick,
.
1981 .
The organization of maternal care in sheep and goats differ. The sheep, a ‘follower’ species moves along with her offspring while grazing and thus, maintains close contact with the lamb most of the time. The goat, a ‘hider’ species, on the other hand leaves her offspring behind while grazing during the first few days after parturition. This act leads
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to periods of separation between mother and young Lent, 1974 . There is a paucity of information on the behavioural interactions between mother and young in tropical breeds of livestock, especially those found in Africa. Breed is an important factor that can affect behavioural interactions between mother and young. Studies have shown, for
instance that 12-h-old Border–Leicester=Merino crosses have better dam recognition
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ability than pure bred Merino lambs of the same age Nowak and Lindsay, 1990 . In an
earlier study, we reported on the behavioural relationships between Djallonke=Sahellian
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ewes and their single-born lambs during the first 24 h post-partum Asante et al., 1999 . We now report on a similar study in the West African Dwarf goat. This is a compact breed of goat that is reared in most villages in West Africa. It has a remarkable ability to survive under unfavourable conditions and is of great economic importance to the
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people of West Africa Oppong, 1965 . The present study was specifically designed to
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2. Animals, materials and methods
2.1. Experimental site and system of management
The study was carried out at the National Goat Breeding station of the Animal
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Production Department of the Ministry of Agriculture Ghana . The station is located at
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Kintampo in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana Longitude 1805 W and Latitude 7840 N
and is in the derived Savannah zone. The station has 10 paddocks ranging in size from 1.2 to 2.5 ha. The different flocks on the station are rotated on these paddocks containing grass forage such as Panicum maximum and Cyanodon nlemfuensis mixed with Stylosanthes hamata and Centrosena pubescens. Two weeks prior to mating, the does were flushed. Does observed to exhibit signs of parturition were sent to a holding pen and kept under 24-h observation. After kidding, does and their kids were allowed to stay together for 4 h before the kids were weighed, sexed and ear-tagged. This period of non-interference was necessary to allow sufficient time for does and their kids to establish a bond.
2.2. Animals
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Before the experiments, a preliminary study was conducted using 28 kids 14 singles
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and 7 sets of twins and their dams. The purpose of this preliminary study was to determine the appropriate modalities to be adopted for the tests. In this preliminary study, the kids were allowed access to their dam’s teats. Based on the results obtained, the teats of the does were covered with plaster 2 h before they were tested in the subsequent experiments. Fifty-six does and their single-born kids were used for the main study. Seven of the does and their kids were tested at 18 h, 10 at 24 h, 14 at 36 h and 25 at 48 h. Out of the 25 does tested at 48 h, nine were primiparous and 16 were multiparous. Based on the mean birth weight of West African Dwarf goats, which is
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about 1.2 kg, the kids were classified as either low weight F1.2 kg or high weight
Ž)1.2 kg . Sixteen of the kids tested at 48 h fell into the low-weight class and nine in.
the high weight class. Sixteen were males while nine were females. Each doe and her kid were tested once to prevent familiarization with the test procedure due to previous experience.
2.3. Testing pen
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The testing pen used for the preliminary study and all three experiments Fig. 1 was
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a modification of the one used by Oppong-Anane 1991 . It was a funnel-shaped enclosure of wire mesh about 1.0 m high. At the smaller end were two pens for kids
each measuring 0.5 m=0.5 m and separated by a space of the same dimensions. Seven
metres away, at the opposite end of the enclosure, were two pens each measuring
1.0=0.8 m. These pens were separated by a space of the same dimensions and were
Fig. 1. Diagram of pen used for testing the response of does and their kids to separation and their mutual recognition.
of all pens were covered with black plastic sheets to prevent animals from seeing one another. The enclosure was weeded completely to eliminate any grazing material that might serve as a point of distraction.
2.4. Experiment 1: The behaÕioural response of does and their single-born kids to
separation when the kids had not been suckled for 2 h
This experiment was carried out at 18, 24, 36 and 48 h. Prior to the test, each test doe and her kid were confined to one of the doe pens for about 10 min to allow the animals settle down and also to ensure that they were the correct doe–kid combination. Another
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Table 1
Key to score used for the behavioural response of does and their single-born kids to separation
Score Kid behaviour Doe behaviour
5 Very active, continuous high-pitched bleats Restless, continuous high-pitched bleats and a search 4 Not very active but high-pitched bleats Continuous high-pitched bleats and a search 3 Active, but few bleats Some bleats with a little search
2 Inactive, few bleats Few bleats, no search
1 Down, inactive No response
the alien doe and the alien kid facing the test doe. The plaster covering the teats of both the test and alien does were then removed. The behavioural response of the test doe and her kid to separation was observed over a 5-min period and ranked with the score used
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by Oppong-Anane 1991 and shown in Table 1.
2.5. Experiment 2: The ability of single-born kids to discriminate between their own and alien does in a two choice situation at a distance of 6 m when they had not been suckled for 2 h
After the behavioural response of the doe and her kid to separation had been scored, the test kid was removed and placed at a point 6 m from the does. It was placed in a central position directly in line with the space between the two doe pens. The kid was then gently released and observed for 5 min. Its dam recognition ability was ranked
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according to the score used by Oppong-Anane 1991 and shown in Table 2.
2.6. Experiment 3: The ability of does to distinguish between their own single-born and an alien kid in a two choice situation at a distance of 7 m when the kid had not been suckled for 2 h
After experiment 2, the test kid was returned to its pen and the test doe released. The doe was observed for 5 min for her kid recognition ability and ranked according to the
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score used by Oppong-Anane 1991 and shown in Table 3.
2.7. Statistical analysis
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The chi-square procedure of the Statistical Analysis Institute 1989 statistical
package was used to determine whether age or hours post-partum had an effect on the
Table 2
Key to score used for dam recognition ability of single-born kids
Score Kid behaviour
5 Goes directly to mother and stays
4 Goes to mother after hesitating between both does 3 Goes to alien doe first but switches to mother and stays
2 Goes to alien doe and stays
Table 3
Key to score used for kid recognition ability of single bearing does
Score Doe behaviour
5 Goes directly to own kid and stays
4 Goes to own kid after hesitating between the 2 kids and stays 3 Goes to alien kid first but switches to own kid and stays
2 Goes to alien kid and stays
1 Does not make contact with either kid
behavioural response to separation exhibited by does and their kids and on their mutual recognition. The procedure was also used to determine whether the sex and birth weight of kids and parity of their dams had an effect on these behavioural parameters at 48 h post-partum. All comparisons were at 5% level.
3. Results
The results of the preliminary study where kids were not prevented from sucking before they were separated from their dams are shown in Tables 4 and 5. The majority of both kids and does exhibited apparent minimal concern to separation and also did not
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seek each other in the recognition test. Out of 28 kids tested, 26 93% had scores of less
Table 4
The response of kids to separation from dams and ability to recognize dams when they have had access to the dam’s teats
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Age h Response to separation score Doe recognition score Total number of kids
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
18 5 1 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 6
24 4 2 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 6
36 5 1 1 0 0 6 1 0 0 0 7
48 6 2 1 0 0 8 0 1 0 0 9
Table 5
The response of does to separation from kids and ability to recognize kids when kids have had access to the dam’s teats
Hours post- Response to separation score Kid recognition score Total number
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partum h 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 of does
18 3 1 1 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 5
24 3 2 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 5
36 4 1 1 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 6
Table 6
The effects of age, sex and birth weight on the behavioural response of single-born kids to separation from dams when they had not sucked for 2 h
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Groups of kids Response to separation score X 5% Total number of kids
1 2 3 4 5
than 3 in the response to separation test while 27 96% had scores of less than 3 in the dam recognition test. The behaviour of the dams followed the same pattern. Eighteen out
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of the 21 does 86% had scores of less than 3 in the response to separation test while 20
Ž95% had scores of less than 3 in the kid recognition test..
The effects of age, sex and birth weight on the response of single-born kids to separation from their dams when they had been prevented from sucking for 2 h are shown in Table 6. The response of 48-h-old kids to separation from their dams was
Table 7
The effects of hours post-partum and parity on the bahavioural response of single-bearing does to separation from their kids when the kids had not been suckled for 2 h
2Ž .
Groups of does Response to separation score X 5% Total number of does
Table 8
The effects of age, sex and birth weight on the ability of single-born kids to recognize their dams in a two choice situation when they had not sucked for 2 h
2Ž .
Groups of kids Doe recognition score X 5% Total number of kids
1 2 3 4 5
significantly higher P-0.05 than that of 18-h-old kids. Sex and birth weight did not
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have a significant effect P)0.05 on the response of 48-h-old kids to separation from
their dams. The response of does to separation from their kids was similar at 18, 24, 36
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and 48 h post-partum Table 7 . Parity also did not affect the response of does to separation from their kids at 48 h post-partum.
There was a trend of increasing ability of single-born kids to recognize their dams
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with increasing age Table 8 . At 18 h, only one out of seven kids tested was able to
Table 9
The effects of hours post-partum and parity on the ability of single bearing does to recognize their kids when the kids had not been suckled for 2 h
2Ž .
Groups of does Kid recognition score X 5% Total number of does
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recognize its dam i.e., had a score of 3 or more while at 48 h, 22 out of 25 88% kids were able to recognize their dams within the 5-min test period. The dam recognition
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ability of 48-h-old kids was significantly higher P-0.05 than that of 18- and 24-h-old
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kids. Sex and birth weight did not significantly P)0.05 affect the ability of 48-h-old
single-born kids to recognize their dams. Does tested at 48 h post partum had a
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significantly higher P-0.05 kid recognition score than those tested at 18 and 24 h
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post-partum, while those tested at 36 h also had a significantly higher P-0.05 kid
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recognition score than those tested at 18 h Table 9 . The majority 77% of does tested
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at 36 and 48 h were able to recognize their kids had scores of 3 or more . In contrast,
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only 41% 7 out of 17 of does tested at 18 and 24 h were able to recognize their kids. At 48 h post-partum, the parity of dams did not have an effect on their ability to recognize their kids.
4. Discussion
The results of the preliminary study where the teats of the dams were not covered 2 h prior to testing showed clearly that does and their kids did not show much concern to separation and also did not seek each when given the chance to do so after separation. When the kids were prevented from sucking for 2 h, the couple did show some response to separation and made attempts to seek each other. This suggests that the state of the neonates’ nourishment and the fullness of the dam’s udder are important factors that contribute to the willingness of the kid and doe to seek each other when separated. Kids and does are thus responsive to separation only when the kid is famished and the udder of the doe is distended. In contrast, the lamb, being a ‘follower’ species reacts positively
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to separation irrespective of the degree of feeding Oppong-Anane, 1991; Asante et al.,
.
1999 . Indeed, in our previous study in Djallonke and Sahellian crossbred sheep, using a set-up identical to that used in the present study, both lambs and ewes showed a great concern to separation even though the lambs had not been prevented from sucking.
The intense behavioural response to separation exhibited by both does and kids in the form of restlessness and continuous high-pitched bleats observed when the kids had not been suckled may not be true representative of their response to separation in field situations. In the present study the couple were prevented from seeking each other and this might have led to greater restlessness in the animals. The greater response to separation exhibited by the 48 h old kids was not surprising since they were more energetic and had spend more time with their dams than younger kids, thereby becoming more attached to them and hence the expression of agitation. It is also possible that the 2 h deprivation of milk affected the older kids more since they required more milk. Sex and birth weight did not affect the response of 48 h old kids to separation from their dams. These findings were similar to those that we observed for single-born Djallonke
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dams to separation from kids was not affected by the hours that they had spent with their kids. Dams tested at 18 h were as agitated as those tested at 48 h. It therefore appears that in the formation of a bond between the doe and the kid, the doe requires a shorter period of contact time than the kid. Even though the difference between primiparous and multiparous does in their response to separation from their kids was not significant, the
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proportion of does exhibiting the highest response score 5 was much higher than in
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multiparous does 44% vs. 13% . In our studies with sheep we observed a significantly higher response to separation in primiparous ewes and suggested that ewes lambing for the first time were more disturbed by the separation because this could be their first experience of separation and the situation was therefore much more stressful. It is, however, not clear if the response of the multiparous does in the present study could be equated to the expression of maternal behaviour in a field situation, since experience in parturition makes the multiparous dam more sensitive to her young following separation and renders her more likely to respond to the separation in an appropriate fashion
ŽLicklitter, 1982 ..
The results of the study showed that dam recognition by kids was poor at 18 and 24 h with only 1 out 7 and 4 out of 10 kids, respectively, being able to recognize their dams
Žscore of 3 or more . Even at 36 h, only 9 out of 14 64% kids tested were able to. Ž .
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recognize their dams. It was only at 48 h post-partum that most of the kids 22r25 or
.
80% were able to recognize their dams. This agrees with the findings of Licklitter and
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Heron 1984 , which showed that 48 h old kids preferred being closer to their own dam rather than to an alien dam. In contrast to these findings in goats, several studies in sheep have shown that most lambs are able to recognize their dams in the first day of
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life Shillito and Alexander, 1975; Nowak, 1989; Oppong-Anane, 1991; Asante et al.,
.
1999 . It therefore appears that lambs are able to recognize their dams earlier than kids. This could be attributed to the fact that lambs follow their dams immediately after birth as the ewe moves away and during grazing and therefore have more early contact with their dams. They are thus able to learn the features of their dams within a short time. In
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contrast, kids behave as ‘hiders’ during the first dew days Lent, 1974 . Thus, while it is necessary for the lamb to learn to differentiate its own dam from aliens at an earlier age during grazing in order to survive, the kid as a hider is not with its dam all the time during the first few days and its takes longer to learn the features of its dam.
There was no significant difference between the dam recognition ability of male and
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female kids. Similar results have been reported for single-born lambs Nowak, 1989;
.
Oppong-Anane, 1991; Asante et al., 1999 . There was also no significant difference
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between the two birth weight groups in their dam recognition ability. Nowak 1989 reported that heavier Merino Lambs spent more time with their mothers in recognition
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tests. Vigour in lambs is often, though not always, related to body weight Nowak,
.
Unlike the response to separation from kids which remained fairly high and constant with time, the ability of dams to recognize their kids improved with time. Does tested at 36 and 48 h had a significantly better kid recognition ability than those tested at 18 h. This suggests that even though at 18 h post-partum West African Dwarf nanny goats would have established a bond with their kids strong enough to cause them some agitation when separated they may not have learnt the specific features of their kids to
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be able to identify them in a two-choice situation. Romeyer and Poindron 1992 reported that when does and their kids were left undisturbed at birth the mothers showed clear rejection of alien kids three to four h after parturition even if the aliens were of an age similar to that of their own. In the present study, even though does and kids were left together for at least 18 h, kid recognition ability at 18 and 24 h were poor. Out of a
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total of 17 does tested at 18 and 24 h, only 7 41% were able to make a correct choice of their kids. This may be a reflection of the poor learning ability of the West African Dwarf nanny goat. Parity had no significant effect on the ability of does to recognize their kids at 48 h post-partum. This may be due to the fact that at 48 h post-partum primiparous and multiparous does would have more than enough time to study and recognize their kids.
In both sheep and goats, the ability of mother and young to recognize each other has been shown to depend on different sensory cues. For instance, in goats temporary anosmia with procaine disturbs the ability of the doe to discriminate between its
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offspring and an alien kid Klopfer and Gamble, 1966 . Gubernick 1981 reported that the initial licking of the kid after birth by the doe not only dries off the kid but also labels it for future recognition by the dam. Studies in sheep have shown that while both dam and offspring depend on olfactory cues for mutual recognition at close quarters,
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recognition at a distance is dependent on visual and auditory cues Lindsay and Fletcher,
.
1968; Poindron and Carrick, 1976; Alexander, 1977; Alexander and Shillito, 1977 . In
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the present study, animals that had score 5 i.e., went directly to the correct dam or kid most likely relied on visual and auditory cues to make the correct choice while those
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that scored 3 and 4 i.e., made the correct choice at close range probably had to rely also on alfactory cues in addition to visual and auditory cues.
Acknowledgements
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The authors are grateful to the National Agricultural Research Project NARP for providing funds for the execution of this study.
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