Behavior of Pantaneiro ewes and their offspring

Abstract

The objective was to describe the behavior of Pantaneiro ewes and their lambs during the peripartum and to correlate these behavioral characteristics with the maternal behavior score (MBS) and productive characteristics of the lambs until weaning. During 2 years, on paddocks with Brachiaria brizantha pasture, 288 ewes aged of 3.5 ± 1.5 years and weighing 41.3 ± 8.1 kg were evaluated. Ewes were sired to Pantaneiro rams and to Morada Nova or Santa Inês rams. The characteristics observed were separation of the parturient ewe from the flock, agitation intensity, care for the lamb, nursing facilitation, latency of the first attempt of the lamb to stand up and suckle, vocalizations, sex of the lamb, weight at birth (BW) and weaning (WW), and the type of delivery. MBS was assessed approximately 12 hours after delivery, using a 6-point scale (1 = very poor and 6 = very good). Data were submitted to descriptive, univariate variance and principal factor analysis (PFA). Linear correlations were tested between behavior of animals at lambing and the lamb's productive indexes. Most ewes did not separate from the flock to deliver (74%), showed adequate maternal behavior as they facilitated the first suckling (86%) and kept close to their offspring (92%), presenting high MBS (≥4). Pantaneiro-sired lambs spent less time searching for the udder and sucking compared with crossbred lambs. Three principal factors (PF) with eigenvalues ≥1.0 explained 68.7% of the total variance for the ewes’ behavior at lambing. Latency to vocalize and latency to care for the lambs were positively associated, while they were negatively associated with ingestion of amniotic fluid and placenta. Agitation intensity at lambing was positively associated with separation from the flock. Three PF with eigenvalues ≥1.0 explained 63.0% of the total variance for the lambs’ behavior at lambing. The PFA evidenced positive association between the latencies to vocalize, stand up, search for the udder and suck, females and heavier animals presented lower durations of latency. Most ewes showed low reactivity to the human presence, but MBS did not correlate with behavior at lambing. The WW and the body weight gain of the lambs correlated positively only with the agitation intensity of the ewes. Behavior of Pantaneiro ewes at lambing is influenced by management and environment of Pantanal region, as ewes do not separate from the flock. In general, behavior of ewes at peripartum does not correlate with MBS and lambs's performance at weaning.