Early maternal discrimination of alien kids by post-parturient goats

Abstract

Dwarf Creole goats ( n = 6) and mixed blood goats of dairy breeds ( n = 13) were tested for their ability to show selective care for their kids after post-partum mother-young contact ranging from 2.5 to 12 h (mean: 5.0 h). 18 out of 19 mothers were found to be selective and to reject alien young presented to them. Rejection was independent of the age of the alien (range: 3 to 28 h; mean 9.3 h) and of duration of mother-young contact prior to the test. Last we found that only one mother of multiple young ( n = 13) showed signs of recognition of litter size. Our results indicate that goat mothers can establish a selective bond as rapidly as sheep, and that they reject alien kids younger than the time necessary for the development of labelling as reported previously. Additional mechanisms may also be involved in the establishment of early maternal selectivity in goats.