Comportamento social de ovinos: apresentação de técnicas

Abstract

The social behavior is a set of activities and relations that develop between peers in certain animal species through a system of communication. Studies in this field began 30 years ago aiming a better understanding of the habits of animals. The main studies on sheep are carried out in Europe; in Brazil there are still few publications related to sheep behavior. Assessment methodologies are based on animal observation for recording activities in the period; therefore, they are simple and do not need many resources. The observations can be made by an observer at the moment of the activity or by recording the actions for later analysis. The most common studies on sheep aim to evaluate ewes at the time of parturition and the immediate postpartum, newborn behavior patterns, the linking of the ewe with her lamb, recognition between sheep and lamb, and the affinity of sheep to man. The most common mistakes that can be committed during an evaluation experiment of social behavior are related to animal handling prior to the experiment, lack of description and assessment of environment, the position of the observer and the genetics of animals. Several methodologies are available and can be modified according to the research aims, and the results help in the management of the environment and natural resources, in the animal welfare, and in the improvement of productivity.