The effect of temperament on maternal behavior and lamb survival and growth in sheep

THE EFFECT OF TEMPERAMENT ON MATERNAL BEHAVIOR AND LAMB SURVIVAL AND GROWTH IN SHEEP AYDOĞDU, Neclan M.Sc. Thesis, Animal Science Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Serhat KARACA August, 2019, 60 pages The aim of this study was to determine the effect of temperament on maternal ability of sheep, early postnatal behaviors and growth in lambs until weaning. The animal material of the study consisted of 100 multiparous Norduz ewes and a total of 30 lambs from 30 ewe those selected from them to determine ewe and lamb behaviors during early parturition period. Ewes were divided into two groups as reactive and proactive according to fear tests. In addition, maternal ability assessments were carried out by ewe-lamb separation tests and growth and development of lambs were monitored from birth to weaning. Serum cortisol levels were determined as 1.57 ng/ml and 0.86 ng/ml after the fear tests in Reactive and Proactive sheep respectively (p <0.001). In the fear tests, some significant correlations were detected among postnatal ewe and lamb behaviors, ewe-lamb separation tests and serum cortisol levels (p <0.05). In the early postnatal period, it was determined that proactive sheep had higher high-pitched bleats than the reactive ewes and left their lambs alone (p <0.01). Reactive ewes had a higher score in terms of follow-up score at ewe-lamb separation tests (p <0.05). The total number of successful suck and total sucking duration was found to be higher in reactive ewes' lambs (p <0.05). Also reactive ewes' lambs had better growth performance during the period of birth to weaning (p <0.001). As a result of the study, it was concluded that temperament is a feature that has the potential to be used in the improvement of maternity ability in selection programs. Keywords: Ewe-lamb bond, Camera, Cortisol, Fear tests, Neonatal behaviors.