Cattle farm husbandry – bulls can be killers

Cattle, farming, husbandry, the bull, safety in handling.


By Dr Clive Dalton

The time of the bulls!

• The time of year when bulls are turned out after the Artificial Insemination (AI) programme is finished can be very dangerous for farm staff, especially now where on large dairy farms bulls are leased from special bull suppliers just for the mating period.
  
• Bulls are a major farm hazard and should be listed as such on the farm safety policy.
• ACC statistics in New Zealand tell a sad story as every year bulls kill at least 3 people, and hundreds of near misses are never listed. Many deaths over the years have been women on farms.
• Humans are not good at evaluating bulls’ temperaments. Where a group of experienced farm managers were asked to rank a group of bulls (that they’d never met before) in order of temperament, they all came up with a different order. This just shows that the human-animal relationship is very complex.
  

Complacency kills

• Complacency is the real killer as it’s the unexpected that catches you out. It’s so easy to forget that a tonne of beef on the hoof can go from zero to 30kph in a few seconds, and when it has caught you, a few swipes of its head even without horns can do fatal damage.
• Then when a bull gets you down you’ll feel his full weight on your chest and that’s the end of your air supply.
• Recent tragedies of handlers being crushed in yards have confirmed this to be common event.
  
• Being crushed by a bull moving past you trying to escape from a narrow race causes serious injuries.
  
• Other cases are where a bull hits the gate which then swings back on the handler and where the bull lifts the gate off its hinges to fall the handler. There’s also the direct frontal charge in a confined place.
  

Handling facilities for bulls

• It’s very important to check that any yards or handling facilities are bull proof before accidents happen. Sadly the small cost of reversing the top hinges on a gate or drilling a hole for a bolt to go through is not done until after a death or permanent injury.
  
• Also, don’t assume that a head bail that will hold cows will stand the power of a mature bull.
• On small blocks the hazards are often greater as the bull has often been hand reared from a calf and is almost a family pet, until the day he decides to play and kill you with his antics.
  
• Special care is needed with strange bulls leased or borrowed from neighbours to mate a few cows as once the job is over the bull can be a problem. You should never handle strange bulls on your own.

Peak danger time

• The most dangerous time with bulls is when separating them from his harem or a cow that he has just mated. The bull always thinks he needs one more go –even if the cow and the handler thinks he’s had enough.

Fight of flight

• A bull’s ‘flight or fight’ distance is 5-6 metres – but be watchful as he may not have read the textbook.
  
• Textbook advice recommends approaching a bull with a stick in each hand and arms extended to increase your apparent size.
  
• But again the bull may not believe you. Never trust a bull, and especially one that the owner assures ou has always been “as good as gold”!
  

Disclaimer
This material is provided in good faith for information purposes only, and the author does not accept any liability to any person for actions taken as a result of the information or advice (or the use of such information or advice) provided in these pages.

Cattle farm husbandry – accidental pregnant yearlings

Cattle, farming, husbandry, pregnancy, yearlings, unplanned, management, decisions

By Dr Clive Dalton

Signs of pregnancy

• Finding a yearling heifer bagging up and showing signs of being pregnant can be scary, as you have to decide what to do with her. It’s often assumed that early udder development is just fatty tissue, so no decisions are made about what to do and her pregnancy and problems increase.
• If you are in any doubt, it’s important to consult your veterinarian to get a pregnancy test done.

How does it happen?
Well-grown young calves can start cycling as early as four months of age, and long before weaning.

If a bull is running with the herd, he may mate the well-grown calves as well as their mothers, and a potential animal welfare problem is guaranteed, as these pregnant yearlings will have difficulty calving. They will be worse if the sire of the calf they are carrying was a large breed of bull.

• This situation seems to be increasing as more Holstein Friesian (HF) genes have been introduced into the Kiwi Friesian. The HF was selected in North America for large milk yields and hence large mature size.
• Consequently they grow well and if reared as single-suckled calves, either as purebreds or as Hereford or Angus crosses, they can reach puberty and start cycling by four months. Being long legged a bull has no problem serving them.
• However, even small Jersey weaners can show early heat and they are even a bigger welfare problem if they get pregnant.
  

Uncastrated male calves
These calves can also mate their heifer herd-mate, or they can mate the cows in the herd including their mothers! If their natural instincts don’t click in, being a spectator when the herd bull is in action soon gets them going. Indeed, they often frustrate the herd sire by getting in the way just at the moment of truth, so he ends up being over worked.

Best practice

• Always to consult a veterinarian and have any pregnant yearlings aborted. Some farmers argue that pregnant yearlings can calve safely, but the risk is too high, as inevitably the calf is too large for the yearling’s immature pelvis.
• She‘ll be damaged and end up as a cull, or the effect of lactating is too much for her and she‘ll fail to perform the following season – again ending up as a cull.
• The earlier that a yearlings are aborted the better.
• If a yearling does calve successfully, then she needs very special care to make sure she doesn’t get mastitis and her lactation is short. Only let her suckle a single calf for 4-6 weeks.
• The chances are that she‘ll be late in coming into heat again, and her lifetime production will be restricted unless she is given high levels of feeding and care.
  

Disclaimer This material is provided in good faith for information purposes only, and the author does not accept any liability to any person for actions taken as a result of the information or advice (or the use of such information or advice) provided in these pages.

Cattle farm husbandry – the cow

Cattle, farming, husbandry, the cow, reproduction, oestrus signs and length, short cycle, silent heat, teaser bulls, artificial insemination, drying off, inductions ( abortions)

By Dr Clive Dalton

When will a cow come on heat?

• Cattle reach puberty about 6-9 months of age but some calves can come on heat as early as 4 months of age – especially rapidly-growing Friesian calves. Puberty depends more on weight than age.
• If you ever have calves that get pregnant, it’s best to have them aborted as soon as you notice excess udder development as there may be no other signs. Check with your veterinarian for the appropriate action.
• Dairy heifers are mated as yearlings at 12-14 months old to calve around 24 months.
• Gestation in the cow is 283 days but in the dairy industry 14 days either side of this time is accepted as normal variation in terms of deciding the sire of the calf.
• Beef heifers have not traditionally been mated as yearlings, but this is changing if they are well grown to get more profit from the enterprise.
  
• A cow will cycle (show oestrus or come on heat) about three weeks after calving, but it is more likely to be six weeks. Don’t mate her at that first 3-week cycle: leave her to her second cycle.
  
• She should then cycle every 21 days after that if not pregnant, with a range from 18-24 days.
• An unmated cow will cycle all year round with slightly less activity in winter.
• There are nymphomaniac cows that cycle every 3 weeks all year round and never get pregnant after mating. They are a great nuisance. If a cow doesn’t get pregnant after 3 cycles, then get rid of her.
  

How long does a cow stay on heat?

• She normally stays on heat for about 8 hours but this can vary from 4-12 hours. In the short days of winter heat periods can be at the lower end of the range.
• Oestrus will start off with low intensity, rising to a state of “standing heat” when the cow will stand quite still when mounted by other cows.
• If a bull then tries to mount her she’ll often not accept him straight away. This is nature’s way of teasing the bull to concentrate his sperm before ejaculation.
• After this, heat intensity decline as she goes off heat and she’ll let nothing mount her.
  

What are the signs of heat in cattle?

Cows coming on heat

• They will attempt to ride other cows but will not stand to be ridden themselves.
• They smell other cows around the genital area.
• Have a moist, red swollen vulva.
• Are restless, walk a lot and bellow for company of other cows.
  

Cows on heat

• Stand to be ridden and may also ride other cows.
• Hair will be rubbed off her tail head and muddy feet marks will appear on her flanks from being mounted.
• May stand with back arched and tail raised.
• Are nervous and excitable and graze less.
• Are restless, walk a lot and bellow for company of other cows.
• Have a moist red vulva with clear mucus coming from it.
• Dairy cows will hold their milk and often come into the parlour out of their normal order.
• Also watch any friendly heifers as they may try to mount their owners. It’s a bit scary to turn round and find a beast up on its hind legs about to land on you!
  

Cows going off heat

• Will not stand to be ridden any more but may attempt to rid others.
• The still smell other cows around the genital areas.
  

Sexually Active Groups (SAGs)

A SAG. The cow at right front is on heat, and the one waiting to mount her could be coming on. What about the other two watching the action? Are they coming on or going off?

This shows the value of observation skills and good records.

• Cows (especially in dairy herds) at various stages of their oestrus form groups of 2-6 sexually active cows referred to as a SAG.
  
• They are made up of cows coming on heat, those on heat and cows going off heat.
• They often rotate through the herd, forming, breaking up and reforming with new animals.
• With AI programmes it pays to keep good records of which animals have been inseminated to avoid confusion by this group behaviour.
  

What are short cycles?

• These are when a cow has been mated and comes on heat again after a shorter interval than the normal 18-24 days.
• Returning to oestrus in 10 days is a common abnormal interval. If this happens - mate the cow again and if possible use the same bull or semen to avoid confusion over parentage. If parentage is important then you can always have the calf DNA profiling to be certain of the sire.
  

What is a “silent heat”?

• This is when a cow fails to show outward heat signs but has ovulated (shed an egg). This can be confirmed through palpation of the ovaries by a veterinarian who can feel a Corpus Luteum or yellow body. This is where the follicle on the ovary has burst when the egg was shed.
• Silent heats are very frustrating as you have lost three weeks in time with no gain.
• The cow may have a silent heat for the first one after calving, and then start normal cycling after that.
• This problem has been reported to be more common in Friesian heifers than in Jerseys but the cause has not been fully investigated.
  
• If you have a cow that never cycles and vet inspection shows that she has had many ovulations – then get rid of her. Check her dam’s records and any other relatives in the herd as it could be a genetic problem.
  

Why do you use tail paint?

• Paint a short strip (100mm wide and 150mm long) along the tail head of the cow.
• Tail painting is a very cheap and easy way to identify cows coming into heat or on heat.
• When the cow is mounted by another cow, the paint will be scuffed and some rubbed off. It can be a good indicator along with other signs. She may also have skin rubbed off her back bone and muddy feet marks on her flanks.
• Buy the proper approved tail paint and follow the instructions.
• Use one colour and after the cow is mated change the colour. Use the traffic light colour sequence.
  

Can suckling calves delay return to oestrus?

• Yes it can.
• Suckling one calf will not delay heat much, but if you put more calves on a cow, then return to oestrus can be delayed by quite a few weeks due to the lactation drain on the cow.
  

Will a bull near by help cows come into heat?

• Yes - sometimes.
• Some dairy farmer experience shows that if the herd is slow to start cycling after calving, the sight, smell and sound of a nearby bull when walking past for milking will sometimes help stimulate their breeding cycle.
• Running a teaser bull with beef cows may also be worth trying but this means having access to one.
  

What is a teaser bull?

• A teaser bull is vasectomised so he is sexually active but does not ejaculate fertile semen.
• If fitted with a mating harness with coloured ink, teasers can identify cows on heat which can then be put up for AI.
• Teasers have all the dangers and disadvantages of keeping entire bulls so beware.
• Don’t keep them for more than one season as they often lose libido.
• If you get a bull vasectomised, get the vet to remove one testicle as a clear indicator of his status. It’s a lot easier than looking for a scar on the neck of his scrotum!
  

What is AI and AB?
Artificial Insemination (AI) also called Artificial Breeding (AB) in Australia and New Zealand, and is where semen is collected from a bull and after dilution is used either fresh or frozen to inseminate a cow on heat. For a successful programme you have to understand some facts about cow reproduction.

When is the best time to inseminate a cow?

• The best time is when she is going off heat, or has just gone off heat because this is when ovulation occurs.
• So in practice - if you see a cow on heat in the morning, have her inseminated in the afternoon of that day.
• If you see her on heat in the afternoon or evening, them inseminate her the next morning or early afternoon.
  

Where can you get an AI service?

• Look in the Yellow Pages of the telephone directory under Breeding Services. There is a wide choice of providers.
• Some organisations offer training so you can become a DIY operator, and some offer training with the proviso that you work for them for a period.
  

How to treat a cow after insemination?

• Quiet handling is important after insemination.
• Let her out of the bail into a small area on her own if she will stay there.
• If she’s getting upset at being on her own, give her a mate for company.
• Try to avoid putting her back with the rest of the cows till all her riding activity has stopped.
• Stray electricity. Check any troughs near your yards for stray voltage. There are cases of low conception rates when cows have drunk from troughs soon after insemination that were found to carry stray voltage from poorly-earthed fences.
  

Keep the records safe

• File the insemination certificates in a safe place.
• Mark on the calendar or wall chart the date 21 days after insemination, to watch to see if the cow returns to heat and needs a repeat insemination.
• But always watch out for short returns and file these records with the first insemination record as you’ll have to work out the calf’s correct sire when it is born in relation to the insemination date.
• Remember gestation in the cow is 283 days with a spread and 14 days either side of that is accepted as normal variation.

Reproductive technology

• This is a rapidly evolving area and it’s hard to keep up with developments.
• But there’s always a gap between what is possible in the lab and what you can achieve on the farm and at what cost.
  
• MOET – which is “multiple ovulation and ovum transfer” and is where you stimulate a cow to produce a lot of eggs. They can be fertilised naturally inside the cow after insemination or mating, or they can be flushed from the cow and fertilised with semen in the lab called IVF (in vitro fertilization).
• You can also collect the ovaries from old proven cows at slaughter and use the thousands of eggs still left that have not developed as future genetic resources.
• Eggs can now even be taken from young calves before puberty.
• Then there is cloning from body cells like Dolly the sheep that started from her mother’s udder cell. Cloning is now well established in cattle.
• Sexed semen has been on and off the market over the past decade but costs have so far restricted its widespread use.
• Just be aware that if you are going to submit a valuable cow to any of these modern technologies, you’ll have to accept variable results and with all the hormone treatment she will have, her natural reproductive life may be shortened. No doubt these risks will get less as time goes on.
  

How long will a cow keep on milking?

A dairy cow with good genetics will keep on producing milk for a couple of years without a pregnancy. Her yield will drop off to low levels after about a year but she’ll manage to produce about 3-4 litres/day for a very long time. The milk at these low levels of production may not be top quality as the cow’s udder is trying to shut down.

Drying off a lactating cow.

• This is best done by stopping milking completely or abruptly removing her calf.
• Never milk a cow every other day or increase the milking intervals before stopping and don’t let the calf back with the cow for any reason.
• Keep an eye on her for any sign of mastitis - red, swollen quarters that are painful to touch or her off colour and not eating.
• The teat canal must be allowed to seal naturally with a keratin plug, and milking or suckling again will reopen this and risk infection getting in.
• For cows that have had a lot of mastitis during lactation, talk to your vet about giving her “dry cow treatment” or DCT. You put a tube of long-lasting antibiotic up the teat into the udder where it remains active during the dry period to kill any infections that may arise. Don’t use DCT unless your vet recommends it and never use DCT antibiotics for lactation mastitis.
• You can also buy material to insert into the teat to seal it that has no antibiotic action.
• Before you put any product up a teat, be scrupulous about cleaning the end with meths and cotton wool until no more dirt comes off.
• The teat is the most sensitive part of a cow and they don’t like tubes pushed up them. So make sure she is well restrained and you are as gentle as possible.
  

Induction (abortion)

• This was a great idea when it was developed over 20 years ago to abort the calf so the cow could return to oestrus and get back on to a yearly calving cycle which is so important to farming cattle profitably in New Zealand.
• But this now has a terrible animal welfare image among the general public, and the veterinary profession is keen to restrict its use and operate under very strict guidelines. Discuss these with your veterinarian who is the only person licensed to administer the drugs.
• Don’t induce very old cows, heifers, skinny cows or any that had problems at calving.
• Induction can be used to abort a heifer that got inadvertently pregnant as a calf, so will calve as a yearling. This pregnancy will generally be too much for the young heifer and will affect her future production.
• The other reason for inducing a cow is when you expect her to have a massive calf and consequently calving trouble. So if you can get her to calve a week or so early, it may make the birth process easier for her and be less risk to both cow and calf. Again seek veterinary advice.
  

Intra-vaginal devices

• Intra-vaginal devices (IVDs) were also thought to be a great idea and the solution to getting cows to cycle that were slow to return to oestrus after calving. They were even promoted to improve herd fertility by ending up with less empty cows.
• IVDs are plastic devices that carry the hormone progesterone and are inserted in the cow’s vagina and left there for around 10-12 days.
  
• Progesterone tells the cow’s hormone system that it is pregnant so it stops cycling.
  
• When pulled out, the cows start cycling again and if a group has been treated, they will have their heat cycles and hence their calving dates synchronised.
• A cow that has not cycled after calving, treatment with an IVD may kick-start her system when it’s removed.
  
• As part of the programme, other hormones are used as well as progesterone to stimulate the egg follicle to ripen and then to burst and shed an egg.
• Like inductions, these now have a negative animal welfare image especially on women shoppers. And many farmers are now questioning the cost-benefit of their use.

Twinning
Farmers don't like twins, as they bring extra work and mortality is high. Added to that is the 'freemartin' problem in cattle where the female in a female-male pair is usually infertile.

But in recent years, because the theory makes sense - i.e. cows which produce and rear two calves are a lot more efficient as measured by 'weight of calf weaned/kg of cow live weight', interest has be renewed.

At Clay Centre Nebraska researchers have a herd of cows selected for twinning which has been increasing at 3%/year since 1984. Calf litter weight for twinning cows is 0.8-0.9kg of calf/kg of cow weight, compared to the singles at 0.5-0.55kg of calf/kg of cow weight.

But the twinning cows have 20% death rates among the calves, dystocia, and triplets which nobody wants. The twinning cows also have lower pregnancy rates than cows suckling singles. At present there is no enthusiam for the idea.

Disclaimer This material is provided in good faith for information purposes only, and the author does not accept any liability to any person for actions taken as a result of the information or advice (or the use of such information or advice) provided in these pages.

Cattle farm husbandry – getting top AI results

Cattle, farming, husbandry, breeding, reproduction, artificial insemination (AI), artificial breeding (AB), achieving good results, how to keep the AI technician happy

By Dr Clive Dalton

What’s the problem?
Because cows are inseminated by humans, and because humans vary in their manual dexterity, pregnancy rates can vary with the operator, although AI organisations do their very best to remove this variable from their service. Regular checking of operator results is very much part of their Quality Management programmes.

But to do your bit to help remove the risk of human variation, here’s a list of things which can help promote good results. In any case they are all just “good management” practices.

Good old marketing advice was always “to wear your client’s shoes”! To improve your AI setup, try seeing your operation from the viewpoint of your technician’s gumboots and fix what you don’t like.

How to help your AI technician

• Have a good road to where your cattle are and the gates open when the technician is due to call.
• Have a good set of yards and a proper race so the technician can get behind the cow safely without risk of accident.
• Remember your responsibilities under OSH to have a safe “workplace” as if the technician has an accident you could be liable.
• Have a clear and clean bench space for the technician’s equipment.
• Have the cow or cows handy to the yard, or in the yard waiting.
• Have someone there to put the cows in to the yard and restrain them.
• If you have ordered frozen semen, have a bucket of cold water handy to thaw the semen straw.
• Don’t change your mind from the semen you have ordered when the technician arrives.
• Have a rubbish bin at the yards and keep the place tidy.

Avoid what sperm hate:

• Smoke - no smoking
• Sunlight - provide shade
• Chemicals –don’t spread disinfectant around
• Cow dung –keep the place clean
  

• Provide a washing facility or tap and hose for the technician to wash hands, and a brush to help clean boots. Paper towels are a good hygienic idea as there’s nothing worse than being offered a dirty hand towel.
• Remember technicians have to keep moving so don’t hold them up.
  

A nice gesture
At peak times, the technician may not have had time to stop for a bite. Have a flask of coffee and a tin of chocolate or muesli bars at the shed as a nice gesture. It’s a legitimate farm expense and could just help the conception rate – at the next farm if not at yours!

Disclaimer This material is provided in good faith for information purposes only, and the author does not accept any liability to any person for actions taken as a result of the information or advice (or the use of such information or advice) provided in these pages.

Cattle farm husbandry - keeping a house cow

Cattle, farming, husbandry, keeping a house cow, mating, milking, health, breeds
By Dr Clive Dalton

Is it a good idea?
Keeping a house cow may seem like a great idea, but consider these points before you are persuaded:

• Right at the start, determine who is going to milk the cow and how many times a day in all weathers? Write their names on a roster and put it on the fridge for all to see. Negotiate the pocket money payment rate for milking only if the job is done to the correct standard. How much milk is in the bucket, its colour and what’s floating in it will be a good quality check!
• Do the potential milkers know how to hand milk? It’s got to be completed in about 6-7 minutes as you won’t get a “let-down” response after that time no matter how long and hard you pull.
  
• You can always use a small milking machine but remember it will be expensive and have to be cleaned daily and maintained.
• You can also run calves on the cow and shut them away for 8 hours for you to have a turn at getting some milk.
• Where you are going to get a decent cow that will enjoy being hand milked?
• A cow these days from a dairy farmer, or through a stock agent probably won’t have been hand milked and you may have some problems getting her used to it. The only time she will have had her teats pulled is when she’s been treated for mastitis when they were sore and she’ll remember!
• You can breed your own house cow by rearing a heifer calf which is then mated and calves on your property. This will give you a great opportunity to ensure she is quiet and easy to handle.
• A house cow must be super quiet to let anyone in the family milk her and not be panicked by noise, children or pets around her feet. Feeding her some grain or nuts during milking is a good idea to build a good cow-milker relationship. But remember when you want to stop the nuts, she may not agree with the idea and play up or keep her milk to herself!
• Buying a lactating cow lets you see if she is an easy milker – i.e. if it’s easy to get the milk from her. Some culls from dairy herds may be slow and tough milkers and you end up with wrist ache and lock jaw from clenching your teeth while squeezing.
• The main thing to make sure when buying is that a potential house cow has not been a recurring mastitis candidate.
• The surplus milk. After calving you will be flooded with milk so plan what you will do with it. Will you enjoy the extra work of making butter, yoghurt or cheese, or will you give that a miss and feed it to calves or a Christmas porker?
• Selling milk. Don’t plan to sell the milk to anyone or even give it away as it will not be pasteurised and you don’t want to have a run-in with the Health Department or the law.
• Which breed? A Holstein Friesian will give an average of 4,000 litres per lactation, a Jersey 2,900 litres and a Friesian x Jersey 3,600 litres. Can you find a money-making use for all this?
• Where are you going to milk the cow? Have you got a milking bail as part of a shed, or will you milk her in the paddock in all weathers?
• A cow produces milk for its calf so she’ll need to be mated to keep on having a decent lactation. But you can keep on milking some cows for a couple of years without a pregnancy and you’ll keep getting around 4-5 litres per day. Not all cows will do this and at these low levels it may not taste the best.
  
• Make sure the house cow complies with all the Tb regulations and that she has been vaccinated against Leptospirosis. And give her a decent name!
  

Disclaimer This material is provided in good faith for information purposes only, and the author does not accept any liability to any person for actions taken as a result of the information or advice (or the use of such information or advice) provided in these pages.

Sheep Farm Husbandry - Reproduction: Hoggets; Mating & lambing

Sheep, farming, husbandry, hoggets, yearlings, mating, advantages, disadvantages, points for success, liveweight, feeding, liveweight, target levels of performance

By Dr Clive Dalton

Practice in New Zealand
About 20% of New Zealand farmers now put their hoggets to the ram at 8-9 months of age to lamb when they are about a year old. They normally lamb them first as two-tooths at two years old to give the hogget time to grow and mature. But to get more production out of the flock, mating hoggets is a very simple concept and has been in and out of fashion over the years. A lot of research has been done on it. Currently it’s in fashion again, and there are plenty of reports of successful farming operations where hoggets are mated and lambed.

You often hear the comment that mating hoggets will provide “bonus” lambs. This is a dangerous statement as they are no such thing as bonus lambs – there’s always a cost involved. So before you do anything – consider the points below:

Points for hogget mating

• More lambs can be sold from the flock.
• Hoggets that lamb are more productive ewes.
• Having more lambs allows greater scope for selection and flock improvement.
• More sheep with greater nutritional needs, means that you get better utilisation of surplus spring feed. The feed is going into more productive sheep.
• Hoggets that lamb are better mothers at their subsequent lambings.
  

Points against hogget mating

• Extra feed needs to be provided to get hoggets up to a good weight for mating, and to feed them well right through pregnancy and lactation.
• Deaths are higher in hoggets that lamb.
• Wool production at hogget shearing will be lower.
• Lambing will be extended.
• Lambs from hoggets are generally smaller at weaning and will be slower to reach market weights.
• More rams are needed. One ram for every 30-50 hoggets is recommended.
• Performance measured by lambs weaned/100 hoggets joined can be very variable and values from 4-46% have been published
  

How to ensure success

• Be realistic and don’t expect a successful operation every year as season and feed supply has the main effect on the result.
• If you do the job well and it’s a good season for weather and pasture growth, consider these performance levels to be good.
• 70-90% to take the ram
• 50-70% to lamb
• 40-50% lambs weaned/100 hoggets joined
• Be prepared to expect enormous variation from year to year e.g. 4-46% in LW/HJ
  

Liveweight
Liveweight is critical. Here are some target weights. Remember these are minimum weights that all animals should reach – they are not average weights:

• 40kg at mating (4 months old(
  
• 55kg at weaning their lambs (11 months old)
• 60-65kg at two-tooth mating (15 months old)
  

Feeding
Feeding is critical. Hoggets should be well fed, but not to grow more than 100 g/head/day immediately after mating, as high feeding levels at this time have been show to cause pregnancy losses. But feed them well after that.

• Expect hoggets to cycle one month later than the main flock.
• Give the rams a maximum of two cycles with hoggets. Some farmers only give them one cycle.
• Run teasers with the hoggets before the rams go out to try and compact lambing.
• Feed offered hoggets at lambing should be at least 1300kg DM/ha and 1500kg DM/ha for lactation. This must be high quality leafy green feed.
• Try to avoid as much disturbance at lambing as possible. Keep an eye on things from afar.
• The hoggets are “priority stock” so keep pasture levels high right through lactation and up to weaning of the hoggets’ lambs. Hoggets need to grow themselves as well as produce plenty of milk for the lambs suckling them so plan to achieve growth of at least 100g/head/day while they are suckling lambs.
  
• The hoggets’ lambs then become even higher priority stock to get them up to good commercial weights. This is a real challenge.
• If you carry on mating hoggets, expecting the lambs born from hoggets to take the ram as hoggets is too much. Their “maternal environment” of having a hogget as a mother is often too much of a burden, and they cannot get to a suitable mating weight.
  
• So sell all the lambs bred from hoggets unless you have some important genetic reason for speeding up generation interval.
• If you can get the hoggets out of hoggets to lamb, you can certainly improve the productivity of your flock genetically – but don’t bank on achieving it.
  

Final comments

• You don’t get anything for nothing – you certainly don’t get “bonus” lambs from hoggets.
• If you cannot grow good feed on the farm and consistently grow good stock, and consistently achieve the target weights, forget about hogget mating.
• If the hoggets become priority stock, something else in the farm’s management has to change. Sort out what it will have to be before you start.
• If you go to farmer’s meeting promoting hogget mating and lambing, ask the speakers to tell you the names of farmers who have given the practice away and why, and not just the successful operators. They never do this! The farming press always highlights success stories and never failures.
  

Disclaimer
This material is provided in good faith for information purposes only, and the author does not accept any liability to any person for actions taken as a result of the information or advice (or the use of such information or advice) provided in these pages.

Animal behaviour and welfare: Dogs Part 3

DOG BEHAVIOUR BASICS: PART 3

Reproduction: Birth: Early life: Socialisation

By Dr Clive Dalton

Huntaway bitch with large litter walking away as she's decided feeding time is over.
Note her good body condition - but this sized litter and the heavy milk drag will quickly thin her down if she's not fed properly and the pups supplemented.

Reproduction

Bitches

• Bitches reach puberty from 6-9 months old.
• Mature bitches have two heat periods a year.
• A bitch has a lengthy period of pro-oestrus (before her heat). It's a useful warning to owners as it triggers the attention of males from miles around, living in hope.
• "Standing heat" when she will stand to be mated lasts 5-12 days.
• After a failed mating, a bitch can have a false pregnancy and not show heat for 3-4 months. This can be very confusing for the owner. She gets fat, shows nesting behaviour and produces milk for up to 60 days. But there are no pups born!
  

Signs of oestrus in bitch

• Males sniffing her vulva and rear end.
• She may urinate in presence of a male.
• She may urinate by leg cocking like a male.
• Males show excitement, especially if many are present.
• Vulva is red and swollen - sticky mucous and blood may be seen.
• She may stand and then race round in a play mood.
• She may mount the male with pelvic thrusts.
• When on standing heat she will stand with back curved and tail on the side - called "presenting".
  

Dogs (males)

• Reach puberty at about 6-9 months old.
• They do a lot of mounting in play when pups.
• It's best to bring bitch to the dog's environment to save his time investigating and scent marking the strange environment.
  
• Owners of stud dogs generally like the bitch to be right at standing heat so the job gets over and done with in as short a time as possible. Otherwise the bitch has to be brought back again.
• Some bitches just don't like certain dogs, and vice versa and you end up with a big fight instead of a mating.
• Entry occurs with trial and error and during thrusting; the dog stands on alternate back legs in a paddling action. This is when ejaculation occurs.
• The bulbous structure on penis locks him inside the bitch for 10-30 minutes. During this locking, secondary ejaculation may occur when most of the ejaculatory fluid is expelled.
• The dog may turn round in locked position. It's no good throwing a bucket of water over locked dogs as so many people believe. You just have to wait.
  

Desexing - castration and spaying
There are many reasons for desexing:

• To prevent breeding
• Stop wandering
• Reduce aggression
• Reduce urine scent marking
• Stop mounting other dogs or people

Studies show that it successfully does all these, so why then are there people who don't bother?
There's a huge human psychology problem, especially with large human males with large dogs - they seem to imagine their masculinity will go with the dog's!

• Desexing can be done as soon as 8 moths of age.
• It's not true that a bitch needs to have a litter before spaying.
• Desexing does not make dogs less-loving of their owners.
• Desexed working dogs will still work effectively.
• It's not true that desexed dogs will become obese. Like any other dog, they will if the diet is in excess of their needs - not their wants.
  

Birth

• Labour can last from 2 to 12 hours. Seek vet advice after a few hours if you suspect problems.
• The bitch lies on her side showing rapid and deep breathing.
• After each pup is born, she licks it, chews at the birth sack and may eat it.
• She is constantly checking her vulva and licking it, watching for the arrival of each pup.
• She rests between deliveries and my ago to eat and drink.
• Disturbance during whelping will delay the whole birth process.
• Pups are born with poor hearing and blind, and remain so till about 3 weeks old.
• Pups seek the teats by touch and smell.
• If they get lost, the bitch directs them back to her by licking.
• She responds quickly to pups giving panic squeaks, so be careful if you pick one up.
• The bitch tends dead pups like live ones and it may be days before she ignores them.
• The bitch spends a lot of her time keeping the nest area clean and pups learn this habit early in life.
• The bitch ingests the pups' faeces and urine.
• Don't go near a whelping bitch without the owner being present, and let the owner puck up the pups for inspection.
  

Pups' early life

• Pups are unable to walk at birth but they soon learn to crawl around the nest and show side-to-side head movements. This behaviour is to find warm bare skin and hopefully teats.
• The bitch encourages her pups to move back to her teats by licking them.
• If they find a cold surface they retreat and if held in space they squeal, so keep pups in contact with you. It's called "contact comfort".
• The pup's first vocalisations are squeaks and grunts used to express discomfort and hunger. Barking can start as early as 18 days when they start to bark as part of early play.
• Teat seeking is accompanied by low grunting noises.
• Pups always live with the danger of being crushed. When a good mothering bitch lies down she may ignore short squeaks but will investigate more persistent ones.
• About 4 weeks old pups start interacting with litter mates and their mother and they start barking and tail wagging at this age.
  

Socialisation

• The period 4-12 weeks is the critical socialising period for a pup.
• Neglect of this leads to many problems when dogs get older.
• Pup should meet as many "environmental experiences" as possible at this time and you cannot overdo this socialising experience.
• Examples are: other people, other dogs, children, noise, vehicles, - everything you can think of!
• During this exposure the pup must be kept safe and secure - and constantly reassured by owner.
• Playing with children will not spoil young working dog pups as some old shepherds believed. When a child handles pups before weaning, make sure the dog's owner is at hand to reassure the bitch.
  

• Up to 5 weeks old pups readily approach strangers. After this they show avoidance behaviour until about 8 weeks. This is nature's way of protecting them from predators by an "anxiety period" which lasts up to about 12 weeks.
• The best time to take a pup as a pet is from 6-10 weeks, so it's had time to socialise with its own kind and can then develop a good social bond with humans.
• Hierarchy starts to develop during suckling when big pups compete for the best front teats. Litter runts have problems as they inevitably end up sucking the hind teats with the least milk supply.
• Once the bitch discourages suckling, emphasis moves from teats to muzzle. Pups lick their mother's muzzle while adopting a crouching posture.
• This is to encourage regurgitation of food as seen in wild dog behaviour. It's the reason your dog licks your face when you come home - it wants to you regurgitate your lunch!
• The leader-follower bond in a successful pack is not based on fear. Low order members seek out top order members for regular body contact. That's why a dog will beg to come back to you for a pat after a reprimand.
  

Some useful socialising tips

• You need to dominate your pup and this is best done as part of the socialisation period.
• Using non-verbal physical handling can be used using these methods:

• Elevate - hold the pup up at eye level
• Invert - hold it upside down at eye level
• Straddle - hold it between your legs
• Prone - (see picture) lay it on the ground and gently hold it down. This is very easy to do and the pup feels secure.
  

• In all the above actions, when the pup shows panic, reassure it with gentle patting and low voice tones.
• When it struggles, shake it by the scruff and growl like its mother would do. Then provide reassurance.
• Discipline must be immediate - a delay of a few seconds is too long, as the pup will not associate the punishment with the crime.
• Do you want your dog only to accept food from you? This needs to be taught in this early socialisation period.
• If you feed the pup yourself it will associate you with control of its food supply. This is also a good idea these days to stop your dog being doped or poisoned.
• Interrupt the pup during feeding. Take the food away, then replace the food and give it plenty of praise.
• Don't call a dog to you to administer discipline. Discipline must be instantaneous.
• Don't change the rules or let anyone else change them and make sure the rules are applied similarly by everyone in the family.
  

Greeting you should receive from a well-socialised dog

• A vigorous welcome.
• Ears held back.
• Head and body in slightly lowered position.
• Tail held down but wagging.
• Mouth open and lips drawn back in a grin.
• Licking your hands and face.
• Some dogs will even lie on their backs and urinate.
  

Faeces and urine

• This is a major reason for man's love/hate relationship with the dog. We love dogs but don't like their faeces on our shoes!
• Well-adjusted dogs are taught by their mother not to foul their nest and home territory, so that's why they go next door to eliminate.
• Females from pups to adults squat to urinate and they do the same to defaecate.
• In males urinating and defaecating are also part of scent marking.
• Only after 5 weeks do male pups learn to cock their legs.
• Bottles filled with water do not put dogs off fouling your front lawn.
• Dogs can easily be taught to defaecate on a specific area of their territory, and even to defaecate on command.
  

Animal behaviour and welfare: Sheep Part 2

SHEEP BEHAVIOUR BASICS: PART 2

Reproduction: Lambing: Lamb survival: Fostering

By Dr Clive Dalton

The ewe

• Sheep are seasonal breeders and ewes are stimulated to cycle by the declining daylight pattern in autumn.
  
• Female sheep reach puberty at about 6 months old, depending on breed and live weight.
  
• Only about 20% of farmers mate their ewe lambs and there is no problem getting these hoggets to come on heat if they have been well fed, and are a minimum of 35-40kg by 6-7 months old.
• Ewes come on heat every 17 days (14-20 days range) and will be on heat for about 4-8 hours.
• Pregnancy in the ewe is five months (154 days)

Signs of oestrus in the ewe
These are not very obvious compared to cattle. Here are some:

• The ewe will seek out a ram.
• She will sniff him and chase after him.
• She will crouch and urinate when a ram sniffs her side or genital area.
• She will fan her tail when the ram sniffs her.
• When the ram is preparing to mount, she will turn her head to look at him.
• Ewes do not mount other ewes as in cattle.

Ram has found ewe on heat. She stands still, looking around at the ram, tail fanning, ears pricked. She is waiting to be mounted.

The ram

• Rams reach puberty by about 6 months of age, but beware of younger ram lambs that miss docking as they could easily be fertile by autumn.
• Rams are most active in the autumn and are stimulated by declining daylight. They show a kind of "rut", but nothing as well developed as seen in goats or deer.
• They start to smell very strongly like a Billy goat approaching mating and the bare skin around their eyes and on their underside around front legs and crutch turns pink.
• This smell comes from the grease in the wool and contains a pheromone that stimulates the ewes to ovulate.
• Rams with high libido may not be fertile so fertility can be checked by a semen test using electro-ejaculation. This does not deliver the same quality of sperm as a good strong natural ejaculation but it is an indicator.
• To avoid problems, farmers usually change rams after each cycle to lessen the risk of a ram being a dud.
• Counting the number of mounts on a restrained ewe over time can also indicate libido, but seek veterinary advice on the ethics of this practice.
• It's wise to use an older experienced ram on young ewes and a young ram on older experience ewes. But some farmers argue the opposite and reckon the extra libido of young rams stimulated the young ewes better.
  
• As rams are reared in homosexual groups, they may take time to learn how to mate females correctly. Take time to watch new rams working to make sure they are serving correctly into the vagina and ejaculating. In a good ejaculation the ram will thrust forward with all four feet off the ground.
• Courting behaviour is made up of a lot of "sniff hunting" ewes. Rams approach a ewe often from side, pawing her side with his head low, rattling his tongue and giving a low bleating.

Ram 'sniff hunting' ewes.

• Mating ratios of 1 ram to 40-50 ewes is normal but a good fit ram will easily mate 100 ewes. Ram lambs that are large enough (30-40kg) are given 30 ewes.
  
• Having a surplus of rams in the flock may be a good insurance against infertility but they will spend more time fighting and establishing dominance and may miss ewes on heat. Fighting also leads to injuries which rarely recover before the end of mating, so an expensive ram is often a write off.
• In large mobs where many rams are used, the dominant rams do most of the mating, chasing the less-dominant away. Practice makes perfect, so these dominant rams, getting more practice do the job quicker and so get more work.
  
• The subordinate ram may get a service when the dominant one has moved away to find more fresh ewes, or with ewes that have come to him and are waiting. But it's just his luck if by the time it's his turn, the ewe is starting to go off heat and won't stand.
• Rams can be racists - in mixed-breed groups they often show a preference to mate ewes of their own breed.
  

The "ram effect"

• It's an old practice to use the sight and smell of a ram to stimulate ewes to cycle. It's called "the ram effect".
• To exploit it ewes are first isolated from sight, sound and smell of all rams for at least 2-3 weeks before joining.
• Then both sexes are put in adjoining paddocks to view and smell each other through the fence.
• After about 4 days the gate is opened between them and they are joined.
• This practice is sometimes done using teaser (vasectomised) rams that are actually put in with the ewes for even close contact and serving.
• Teasers lose their libido over time and young entire rams seem to have more stimulating power through the fence. The little bit of extra frustration seems to help.
  

Lambing

Ewe behaviour prior to lambing

• A few hours before lambing, a ewe will move away from the main flock to find a quiet birth site.
  
• Particular areas of lambing paddocks such as hollows or hill tops can be very popular spots and many lamb mix-ups and mismothering can happen here.
  
• It may be necessary to fence these areas off after a while when they get muddy. This will avoid a great deal of extra work and frustration for the shepherd.
• Ewes heavy in lamb become very quiet and near lambing are more vigilant and graze less. This restlessness lasts until the ewe finally selects a birth site.
  

On the birth site:

• The ewe paws the ground.
• She keeps turning round and round.
• She lies down and gets up a lot.
• Her waters burst and she gets up to smell the ground where it fell.
• Then after labour contractions the lambs will be born.
• The ewe then gets up and licks the lambs.
• The lamb may be finally delivered with the ewe standing.
• The ewe produces the afterbirth.
• She will remain on the site till the lambs have suckled.
• Ewes vary in the time they spend on the birth site.
• Old experienced ewes will move off as soon as the lambs have suckled and can move with her. These ewes with good maternal instincts and experience seem to be able to count and will not leave their lambs behind - going back to gather up stray twins or triplets. They stand with head down giving a low bleat and constantly nuzzling the lambs.
• Younger ewes with no previous experience will stay longer on the birth site, as they have the novelty of a lamb to deal with. If disturbed then these sheep panic more easily leading to lamb neglect.
• It's good practice to leave newly lambed ewes alone on their birth site, and only move them after a couple of days when they have clearly bonded and moved off to another area of the paddock themselves.
• Shifting ewes or lambs in the middle of the birth process is a disaster and will lead to mismothering of lambs.
• It's a good idea to spot mark multiples at birth and then leave them alone. This helps to ensure correct mothering later.
  

Burglar ewes

• Often a ewe that has not lambed will steal a lamb from a newly-lambed ewe as her maternal instincts have got out of phase.
• She can cause enormous disruption in a lambing paddock as you often don't know that she hasn't lambed until the day you find her with a lamb a few days old, and then a new one!
• The only cure is when you discover the trick is to shut her out of the lambing paddock until she has lambed or if she is near lambing, lamb her.
• Often you are tempted to put her in the killer's paddock when you discover what she's been up to and the trouble she has caused to your records!
  

Mothering and lamb survival

• Sheep are classical "follower species" where the lamb follows the ewe most of the daylight hours and right up to weaning.
• The lamb starts following movement immediately it is on its feet after birth. You'll see a very young lamb follow the shepherd, the dog or the bike, and this can lead to mismothering.
• Lambs learn to recognise their mothers by sight by about 3 days of age.
• Multiple births are common in sheep. Finnish Landrace sheep can even have litters up to 7-8. As the ewe has two teats, there is high mortality in these highly fertile breeds unless the lambs are artificially reared.
• Breeders once started to select sheep with four functional teats but this has not got very far.
• Good lamb survival depends on the ewe licking the lamb and the lamb finding the teat immediately after birth.
• Teat seeking behaviour is important. The lamb has got to be determined to get on its feet, start nuzzling the ewe to find an area of bare skin and find a teat to suck on.

A good ewe will stand still while the lamb is seeking the teat

• Some lambs find the skin under the front legs and waste time looking for a teat there before moving to the rear end of the ewe.
• A good ewe will encourage the lamb to move to the rear by standing still and nuzzling its rump and anal area.
• Inexperienced young ewes will not stand still and turn round to lick the lamb all the time. Lamb dies of starvation often through this overzealous mothering.
• Once the lamb has found the teat it will stand with head down reaching below the ewe, pushing upwards and once on the teat, wagging its tail while suckling. But don't assume that a lamb wagging its tail has always found the teat - check that its under belly is rounded and full of milk.

Lambs in the first 3 days :

A nice sunny sheltered spot to aid survival but where's its mother?

• Dystocia of single lambs that get too big and stick in the birth canal.
• Death of small multiple lambs that have not sucked.
• Lambs that die from wet and cold - hypothermia.
• Multiples left behind to starve when ewe takes off with one lamb.
• Lambs that suffocate as membranes around lamb have not broken at birth.
• Lambs that follow other ewes and are rejected. Not found again by own dam.
• Lambs that have slipped down steep hillsides away from their birth site.
• Lambs that die from haemorrhage as ewe has chewed the navel or tail
  

Bonding

• First sound then sight soon reinforce the ewe/lamb bond that was built initially on smell. The ewe recognises the lamb's bleat, and the lamb learns the ewe's call.
  
• This is important as lambs get older and spend time away from the ewe for short periods, e.g. with other lambs.
• Lambs show great play behaviour especially approaching dusk when they race along fences and play "king of the castle". They can often fall down holes and drown in water troughs during this activity.
• When danger is seen, the ewe first calls the lamb then checks its approaching identity by sight.
  

Triplet problems

A good ewe will recognise she has more than one lamb and mother them all

• The increasing fertility in modern sheep breeds has led to higher numbers of triplets and quads in commercial flocks.
• As a ewe only has two teats, inevitably there are higher death rates in these multiples and if they are reared, either on the ewe or artificially, it leads to many smaller lambs at weaning.
• Some farms now get up to 40% triplets and once litter size (number of lambs born/100 ewes lambing) gets over 2.2, an increasing number of quads are born which the ewe cannot rear.

With quads, at least one lamb has to be removed

• With triplets, observant farmers have noticed that between 10-15 days after birth, the ewe decides that she cannot feed all her lambs so she starts to leave one behind.
  
• The two that get to the udder first can soon drink all the milk so when it's the turn of the third lamb, there is no milk left. The neglected third lamb is found motherless in the paddock and will die if not removed and fed which may not be economic.
• Advisors recommend that ewes with twins and triplets are run together and ewes with singles grazed on their own.
  
• This is because there’s a better chance of multiples moving between dams than a ewe with a single accepting a stray multiple lamb.
  

Reviving starved lambs

• If a lamb is badly chilled and not had any colostrum, chances of survival are poor.
• Colostrum is vital – and it will have to be tube fed.
• Wrapping the lamb in an old electric blanket works best. It stays at constant heat.
• Bathing a starved lamb in a blood-heat water may work followed by placing them under a heat lamp. In the batch as the water cools, this effectively finishes the lamb off.
• Make sure you don’t overheat the lamb under the heat lamp.
• Vigorous rubbing with an old towel helps circulation followed by the heat lamp.
• Whisky or brandy was a traditional lamb “saviour” but it’s more effective if the shepherd takes it!
  

Fostering

A lamb on its own calling out and not full. Find its mother or else it could mean fostering or artificially rearing it with all the work involved

• Bonding of the ewe and lamb is very rapid at birth - it only takes a few minutes. Once the ewe has smelled the lamb she will not take a lamb that smells differently.
• To foster lambs on to ewes, there are a few tricks but realise that some ewes are more determined than others not to be fooled.
• To add a lamb to a ewe that already has a single, have the lamb ready and cover it in the ewe's birth fluids so both lambs smell the same. The fostered lamb will be more active so make sure the ewe licks her own lamb well and it gets a drink. It's best to artificially feed it to make sure it gets enough colostrum.
• For a ewe with a dead lamb, skin the dead lamb and make it into a suit with holes for legs to fit on the fostered lamb.
• Use strong smelling oil or commercial product to put on lamb and up the ewe's nostrils. This is not always effective.
• Put the ewe in close confinement or in a headbail and leave the lamb with her till she accepts it. This may take a few days and some ewes will win the battle with you and never take the lamb.
  

Animal behaviour and welfare: Goats Part 3

GOAT BEHAVIOUR BASICS: NUMBER 3

Reproduction: Birth, survival

By Dr Clive Dalton

Finding the teat is critical for survival -especially
with multiple births and in bad weather

The female (Doe or Nanny)

• Goats are seasonal breeders coming into heat in autumn as daylight declines.
• They reach maturity at about 5-6 months old but well-reared milking-breed kids can show heat earlier (4 months) so they have to be watched to avoid too-early mating.
• Once the doe starts cycling she will come on heat every 17 days like sheep, and stays on heat for about a day. But these times can vary greatly.
• Feral does seem to prefer old mature high-ranking bucks in preference to young ones. But this may be because the old bucks are more aggressive and chase the young ones away.

Signs of oestrus:

• Vocalisation - especially if a lone goat.
• Urinating a lot - crouched with rear legs set open.
• Tail fanning.
• Showing aggression to other goats and biting them in the milking bail.
• Some mounting of other goats - or their friendly owner!
• The doe is stimulated to cycle and ovulate by the smell of the buck.
  

• Pregnancy in goats is about 5 months like sheep.
• Goats can show pseudo-pregnancy and it can be a problem mainly in milking herds.
  

The male (Buck or Billy)

• Male goats have a thick beard but so do females so the beard is not stimulated by hormones.
• Male goats reach puberty about 4-5 months old, but you should not assume that younger males will not be fertile.
• Mature males show a definite "rut" period and the first sign of it is when they start to smell strongly. This smell is made worse for humans (and better for does) by the goat spreading a thin jet or urine from his erect penis along the belly, chest and on to his beard.
  
• This is called "enurination" and is seen regularly where bucks are tethered, or when kept separate from does waiting for mating to start. Bucks, especially male goatlings run in groups, can use up so much energy in this activity that it impairs their efficiency when joined with does.
• Bucks twist themselves around so they can get their penis into their mouth where the urine stimulates a Flehmen reaction. They will often even masturbate and ejaculate on their bellies and beards - all adding to their aroma which stimulates heat and ovulation in the does.
• Does often are very interested in this behaviour and stand and watch attentively.
• Before mounting, the buck sniffs the doe's side and genital area. He chases her making "gobbling" sounds with his mouth, and flicking his tongue in and out like a ram does.
• If the doe urinates he tastes it and gives a Flehmen response. He may have a false mount or two and then a proper mount with ejaculation when he thrusts forward and leaps off the ground.
  
• Following ejaculation - he may lick his penis, and show a Flehmen response again.
  

Doe behaviour at birth

• Just before birth a doe is often more fretful and nervous.
• Feral goats will separate from the main group and find a birth site in a quiet sheltered spot but milking goats in a herd may not have space to do this.
• Near birth the doe will have "bagged up" and may show a mucous discharge from the vulva.
  
• Udder swelling will be much more obvious in milking goats than in feral goats with smaller udders.
• If kept indoors, the doe will paw the bedding and try to make a birth site.
• Birth should take about an hour but problems can arise with multiple births as in sheep.
• The doe should get up quickly and turn to chew the membranes and lick the kids. The kicking of the kids usually bursts any membranes covering them, but you can get deaths from a piece of membrane left on the nose.
• Afterbirths are passed soon after birth but may be delayed for up to four hours. There seem to be fewer problems with retained foetal membranes in goats and sheep than in cattle.
• The doe recognises its kid first by smell and then by both sound and sight.
• Fostering alien kids to does has the same problems as in sheep, and the same tricks are needed to fool the doe. (See sheep behaviour).
  

Kids behaviour at birth

• Once on their feet, kids should start their teat-seeking behaviour.
• They nuzzle the doe's side to find some warm bare skin and hopefully with a teat.
• Good mothers will stand still and encourage the kid to do this by nuzzling the kids rear end, rather than keep turning head-on to lick it.
• Survival depends on getting enough colostrum within the first hours after birth.
• Kids do not follow their mothers all the time like lambs so have fewer suckling periods when the doe goes back to feed them.
• Cross fostering lambs on goats and vice versa highlights this behavioural difference, with lambs on goats growing faster than their kid mate as they followed the doe and suckle more. The ewe with a kid kept often loses it as the kid goes to lie on its own.
• In the first few weeks after bonding is strong, a doe will go back to its hiding kid and feed it 4-5 times a day. This intense hiding behaviour lasts from 3days to several weeks till the kids are eating pasture when they follow their dams more.
• Dairy kids are kept in mobs and fed on milk replacer diets where they can feed ad lib, along with supplemented hay and meal.
• Disturbance at birth will cause bonding problems, and the doe may take off leaving a twin behind.
• There is a high death rate among feral kids and you regularly see a doe with twins at birth with a single a week or so after birth.
  
• With farmed goats, providing shelter is very important for does and kids during the first weeks of life.
• During the first weeks, kids will start playing together but will still stay close to their dams. They often climb on their parents' backs and seem to be tolerated.
• Kids start to nibble grass by 3 weeks of age, and after 8-9 weeks are very effective ruminants.

Twins are more likely to die in cold wet weather than singles if they
don't find the teat. This pair died as a result of a difficult birth.

Animal behaviour and welfare: Pigs Part 2

PIG BEHAVIOUR BASICS: PART 2

Reproduction: Birth behaviour: Fostering

By Dr Clive Dalton


The female

• Puberty can be affected by breed, season of the year, and social environment (e.g. crowding) but especially by live weight.
• Mixing during transport sometimes triggers puberty where the transport stress is thought to trigger reproductive hormones.
• Contact with males will also stimulate first oestrus. However if exposure is too early or for too long, the gilts may become accustomed to the boar's presence and not react.
• To exploit this male effect, expose the gilt to the boar at about 160-175 days of age, and 60-90% of then should show oestrus within 10 days after exposure.
• Most breeds of gilts today come into oestrus between 170-220 days of age, when they have been moved from their finishing pens at around 90kg live weight.
• Weaning a litter will trigger the sow to come in oestrus. She usually cycles 4-5 days after removal of her litter.
• For best results, make sure the gilts are kept totally from within sight, smell or sound of the boar.
• Rearing gilts with contemporary male pen mates does not seem to advance their age of puberty.
• In general practice, gilts are mated and their third heat, when weighing about 118kg. However mating them at their second heat has economic advantages.
  

Signs of oestrus
Sows and gilts in oestrus show any combination of the following signs:

• Swollen and reddened vulva about 2-6 days beforehand.
• Mucous discharge from the vagina.
• Restlessness and a poor appetite.
• Females coming into heat may sniff the genital area of their pen mates.
• They may ride others and stand to be ridden.
• They will show a feature unique to pigs - the "stance reflex" where they arch their backs , stand rigidly when pushed from behind, and allow a person to sit astride them.
• Prick-eared breeds carry their ears erect and held back.
• Oestrus pigs make a characteristic grunt and seek other pigs while go around searching for a boar.
  

Mating

• The female pig assumes a major role in mating by searching for the male and converting social contact into sexual behaviour.
• "Standing heat" when the female will stand for copulation lasts around 48 hours (range of 38-60 hours). Some sows can stay on heat for up to 120 hours.
• The first heat is usually shorter and sows have longer receptive periods than gilts.
• Length of oestrus is also affected by breed, season and management system such as if sows are group our individual housed.
• Ovulation occurs during the second half of the oestrus period, so it's best for the boar to serve the sow twice - at the start and end of the standing heat period.
• Females not mated will cycle every 21 days (range of 19-24 days).
• Gestation in the modern hybrid pig kept intensively averages 115 days (range 108-122 days).
• The "standing reflex" of the sow where she will not move when weight is applied to her back increases as the oestrus period advances.
• The sow is stimulated by the boar and his pheromones from his body, especially his frothing mouth and the gelatinous exudates from his prepuce.
• The order of priority of these stimuli seems to be smell, sound, sight with physical contact last.
• Some sows show a preference for a particular boar and this can cause inconvenience in breeding programmes.
• When the boar is too large and heavy and risk damaging the sow (as mating can take a very long time), the female is best held in a crate where the boar's front legs rest on the sides of the crate to take some of his weight.
• Gilts may often only stand for a boar in the presence of another female in the mating pen, or with a familiar pig in an adjoining area. However, if these support pigs are nearing oestrus, they'll only distract the boar from the job in hand.
• It's a good idea to mate gilts to an old experienced boar and mate old sows with a young boar.
  

Female behaviour before birth

• Sows show great variation in their behaviour approaching birth. This depends mainly on age, previous experience, breed, strain and the husbandry system.
• Sows carrying a litter of more than 11 pigs will have a 5-day shorter gestation than those carrying average litters of 9-10 piglets.
• To avoid stressing the sow, she should be transferred to her farrowing quarters about a week before birth. This will allow them to settle in and reduce stress levels.
• Stressed sows (especially inexperienced ones) will have higher piglet mortality through overlaying and even attacking piglets.
• Heavily pregnant sows spend most of their time resting, sleeping and feeding.
• As gestation length varies widely, recognising the signs of approaching birth is very important, to ensure the welfare needs of the sow are met.
• Sows are nest builders - and they need to express this desire in intensive farming. A sow starts to nest build 3-7 hours before farrowing, and after giving birth she stays in the nest for 24 hours, nursing every 45 minutes.
  

Signs of birth

• The vulva swells and becomes redder, especially obvious in white skinned pigs about 4 days before birth (range 1-7 days). In black pigs you will only see the vulva starting to look like a swollen prune.
• The udder swells, becomes firm and colostrum can be obtained by gentle massage up to 24 hours before farrowing. Rubbing the front teats usually stimulates the sow to lie down.
• Increased restlessness. The sow gets up and lies down or changes side more frequently, twitches the tail, and chews the pen railings.
• She also urinates, defaecates and drinks more.
• The sow chews up the bedding (when provided) and makes the nest. She paws the ground, especially where no bedding is provided. This is a key sign.
• There will be a discharge of blood, birth fluid from the sow and green-brown faecal meconium pellets originating from the piglets.
• Respiration will increase from about 54 breaths/minute 24 - 12 hours before birth, to 90/min 12 - 4 hours before birth, reducing to 25/min at about 24 hours after farrowing. This together with intermittent low grunting and jaw chomping is common.
• Sow rectal temperatures rises from about 39 - 39.5 C four hours prior to farrowing. They then stay elevated (around 40 C) for up to 24 hours after farrowing.
  

Behaviour during birth

• During birth, the sow lies on one side, and in the intervals between piglets she may change sides, stand or sit in a dog-sitting posture. These movements risk crushing or overlaying the piglets.
• Studies showed that the average time to produce a whole litter averaging 11 piglets was 2 hours 53 minutes, or 15.3min/piglet.
• But these times vary greatly with a range from 3.6 min/piglet to 44.6 min/piglet.
• Normally 55-75% of piglets are born head first and 25-45% back legs first.
• Abdominal straining is more often seen before the birth of the first pig, and less common with the remainder.
• As the sow strains, her tail is often pulled back away from the vulva, and delivery of a piglet is often accompanied by vigorous tail swishing and expulsion of gas from the rectum.
• Paddling with the legs while lying down is common.
• The sow usually just lies still as each piglet is born, and she attracts them to her head end by special grunts. She doesn't stand up and lick them and chew their birth sack like other species. She also cannot turn to lick them as they are born like a bitch as she is not as flexible.
• After the piglets are born, the sow stands up and often urinates.
• Usually the foetal membranes start to be expelled during the birth phase and they may appear in two of three lumps. Most of it is shed after the last piglet is born.
• Four hours is normally needed to expel the complete afterbirth but this varies widely from 21 minutes to 12-13 hours.

Early sow and piglet behaviour after birth

Most milk is at the front teats

• About 70% of piglets are born with their umbilical cords still attached and attached to the foetal membranes still inside the sow's genital tract.
• The cord can be stretched considerably before breaking and this helps to prevent haemorrhage.
• It takes from 1 to 30 minutes for piglets to free themselves form their cords which became shrivelled within 4-5 hours after birth. The sow rarely chews the end of a piglet's cord.
• After a brief period of 5-10 seconds of not breathing, the piglet gives 5-6 gasps and a cough. This is followed by about 20 seconds of rapid shallow panting followed by regular rhythmic breathing.
• Most piglets attempt to stand within one minute of birth, and within two minutes they can stand freely and start searching for the teats, or anything that sticks out that feels like a teat - e.g. the point of the sow's vulva.
• There's a wide interval of 3 - 153 minutes/piglet (average of 10-15) between birth and the first milk intake. Piglets clearly vary enormously in their ability to find a teat although some are greatly restricted by the trailing cord.
• Nuzzling is a very important behaviour used in teat-seeking.
• Piglets show a very clear preference for the front teats of the sow, which generally have more milk than the rear ones.
  
• So the first-born piglets get the best (front) teats, which they claim and fight for until a suckling order is established.
• The front teats are longer with more space between them and they have a greater clearance above ground level than the rear teats, so the piglet can grip them more easily.
• Clearance generally declines up to teat number 6, and as the sow ages the udder becomes more pendulous and her ability to expose the bottom teats is reduced.
• The risks of piglets being kicked by the hind feet are also greater when suckling the rear teats. There is also a danger of being kicked by the front feet.
• So the front-suckling piglets grow faster and consequently maintain their social rank in the litter.
• Piglets sort out a hierarchy in the first few days, and a clear social order is established after a week.
• As milk letdown is very rapid (about 20 seconds) and occurs about once an hour, there's little opportunity for piglets to share teats. But if space allows, they may suckle more than one teat.
• Normally breeders select females with a minimum of 12 functional teats, and preferably 14-16. In older sows, wear and tear and mastitis may reduce the number of functional teats.
• Piglet suckling behaviour moves through the following stages:
• Jostling for position along the sow's belly to find the teat.
• Squealing while jostling.
• Nosing the udder.
• Slow sucking.
• Rapid sucking.
• Final slow sucking and udder nuzzling.
• The sow's grunting increases greatly up to the slow sucking stage which is a clear signal to the piglets that letdown is imminent. Letdown starts 25-35 seconds after this signal.
• The squeal of isolated, lost, or handled piglets will alert and stress the sow and she may interrupt her suckling behaviour to investigate. So don't pick up stray piglets during suckling time.
• Piglets sleep for about 15-16 minutes every hour.
• In the wild, the sow and her piglets join the herd after a week.
  

Fostering piglets

• When sows are farrowed separately but in batches, litter sizes can be adjusted by taking piglets from large litters and giving them to sows with plenty of milk and small litters.
• Care is needed as sows vary in their acceptance of foster piglets.
• Best results are obtained if piglets from both sows are the same age and under one week old before teat preferences have been established.
• For success- remove all the piglets from the sow that is going to be given the extras.
• Wait till they are really hungry and she is anxious to have them back.
• Rub the rear ends of the removed piglets over the anogenital area of the strangers to be added. The sow usually smells this area.
• Use the afterbirth for this job if it's still available.
• Then put them all with the sow and watch to make sure she lets them all suckle and accepts them.
• Fostering will probably disrupt the whole nursing process, because of renewed competition for teats. You'll see this in the uneven growth of the litter up to weaning.
• When sows farrow together in the open, piglets seem to mix freely from birth without any problems. The main concern for the farmer is to make sure that each sow has a similar number of piglets.
• Behaviour of dry sows It's important that dry sows have their diets carefully controlled to ensure their nutritional needs are carefully monitored and met.
• The need to have strict control over a sow's diet has led to the development of systems that restrict their movement, and these have large behavioural and welfare implications.
  

The systems used are:

• Sow stalls - the sow is held in a narrow stall, allowing her to move to and fro but not turn round. There is total environmental control.
• Sows tethered in stalls by a neck strap or a strap around her chest. She cannot turn round. There is total environmental control.
• Sows at pasture in groups with communal shelters.
• Sows at pasture in individual runs or tethered to individual kennels.
• Sows in groups of 6-10 in a yard with kennel-type shelter and individual feeders.
• There is an active national campaign in many countries (including New Zealand) to make sow stalls and tethering illegal because of the stress it causes the animals. This practice has been banned in some European countries.
• Sows in stalls and tethered sows tend to develop "bar biting" when they bite the front bars of the stall, and also show a "paddling" behaviour often seen by bored tethered animals.
• Research has shown that even in stalls, providing some straw gave some enrichment to their existence.
• The ultimate in luxury, (judged with an anthropomorphic view) is to keep dry sows in large yards in deep straw. But sows can have savage fights to establish a social order when housed loosely, and it adds greatly to costs of production. This is a classical example of what the domestic contract should provide.
  

The male

• In the wild or in extensive pig keeping systems, the male pig, (unlike males in other species) does not initiate sexual behaviour. He waits for initial signals from the female.
• Boars reach puberty about 6 months of age, but are generally not used for service till 7-8 months old. These ages can vary a lot depending on the feeding level.
• They start learning their courting behaviour and show elements of sexual behaviour while still suckling and as part of play with pen mates. They develop these behaviours even more if mixed with strangers.
• Boars reared in isolation are much slower to develop successful courting behaviour. Group reared boars are better than those reared in individual pens, and intensive stocking will encourage aggression as well as sexual behaviour.
• Boars reared intensively in homosexual groups maintain this relationships for many months after parting, and they can often show abnormal sexual behaviour.
• The boar's courting ritual includes:
• Chasing the sow.
• Nuzzling her head, flanks, shoulder and anogenital area.
• Occasional pushing or leaning on the sow to test her state.
• Drinking her urine.
• He urinates frequently.
• He grinds and chomps his teeth salivating and frothing at the mouth.
• This courting ritual has an important effect on improving the conception rate of the sows being mated. In outdoor pigs boars often have rings inserted in their noses to stop them rooting up the pasture. This affects their courting ritual when it comes to nuzzling the sow and causing a negative response.
• When the boar mounts, he rests his belly along the sow's back and grasps her with his forelegs. Inexperienced boars will head mount, side mount and dismount frequently before intromission (penis entering the vagina).
• Ejaculation occurs when the cork-screw penis of the boar locks in the sow's cervix. This can take considerable time - averaging about 7 minutes but it can last up to 25 minutes.
• The boar thrusts and rests many times and eventually ejaculates up to 500 ml of sperm. Other farm species produce a 5-15 ml ejaculate.
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Boar behaviour and handling

• Treat all boars with respect and treat them as individuals.
• Handle them carefully and de-tusk them every 6 months (with veterinary advice).
• Remove the front accessory claws to protect the sow from injury during mating (with veterinary advice).
• Don't overwork the boar - one boar to 20 sows is most common.
• Four services a week are plenty till the boar is 12 months old. Don't let him serve more than 6 times a week as this will lower his fertility and subsequent litter size from the sows mated.
• Too frequent use of a boar as a teaser to locate sows coming into heat, may frustrate him too much and he may not serve when needed.
• Mate young boars to old sows in peak oestrus, and old boars to gilts.
• Don't let young boars get injured during their early matings.
• After layoffs of longer than a month, libido may drop and a boar may need the stimulus of an old sow in peak oestrus that has already been served by another boar.
• Spreading some ejaculate from another boar along the sow's back will help to stimulate a boar.
• Take the sow on heat to the boar so he doesn't waste time investigating a new environment. Otherwise he'll waste time in an elaborate ritual of urinating, rubbing scent from his body on the walls, marking the territory with salivary foam and fight the sow to establish dominance.
• Boar pens should provide a good foothold for the boar but not so rough as it will cause foot problems.
• Boars should be kept within sight, sound and smell of sows. However this assumes the boar is the dominant animal in the herd. He may be considerably stressed with other boars near by, as in the wild each boar would be solitary.
• Boars get very large and need regular exercise to keep fit. It's a good idea to have a system where the boar walks daily to the sow's accommodation to help stimulate oestrus and identify sows on heat.
• Regular quiet handling by the stockperson is ideal, walking behind with a pig board for protection, and talking in quiet reassuring tones.
  

Boars and Artificial Insemination (AI)

• AI in pigs is now well established in commercial pig improvement and is a specialist operation.
• At AI centres boars are trained to mount dummy sows and serve into an artificial vagina as this is less complicated than using a live sow.
• Boars may be harder to train if they have mated sows first. But again this varies with the personality of the boar.
• Gentle, reassurance by the stockperson is the secret of success to get a good semen sample from the boar.
• Boars will show courting behaviour to the dummy by nuzzling its flank and rear end.
• Libido varies greatly between boars, and is related to frequency of use.
• Boars can be stimulated more by giving them false mounts, or by observing a collection from another boar.
• It's a good idea to allow the sow or gilt 10-20 minutes contact (through a pen) with a boar after insemination.
  

Behaviour of housed boars

• In less intensive systems where sows are kept in straw yards (and not in stalls), boars often run with them and few problems arise.
• If a boar is put in among a group of unfamiliar loose-housed sows, he will waste time investigating the environment and not checking for sows on heat.
• In intensive pig farming, the boar does not spend time in social contact with sows and opportunities to consort with females are decided by the human in charge.
• Here, sometimes the boar pens are arranged between pens of six loose-housed sows to achieve maximum physical presence of the male.
• In other systems, including where sows are tethered or in stalls, the boar is walked daily in front of them to test for oestrus.
  
• When boars walk behind stalled sows a boar may be confused by the fact that they are immobile and hence displaying an invitation to be mounted. This can be very time-wasting.
• It's well established that depriving boars and sows full opportunity to indulge in their full courting behaviour affects pregnancy and litter size.
  

Boar behaviour problems

• Serving into the rectum instead of the vagina can be a problem. Avoid this by supervising young boars in their early work to make sure they are aligned correctly.
• Extremes of heat may affect the boar's enthusiasm. Delay his work till evening.
• Masturbation by coiling the penis inside the diverticulum of the prepuce. Make sure the boar's penis has actually entered the sow and he is not masturbating.
• Boars that masturbate persistently should be culled although the prepuce can be surgically removed.
• Some boars behave normally up to the point of mounting and then squat down on the floor and ejaculate. Great care is needed to help these boars achieve success as they may persist in this habit.
• Aggression. Boars are always potentially dangerous and need to be handled with care. Nervous and aggressive boars should be culled. Some boars will show aggression with strangers but not with their regular handlers.
• When strange boars meet, they strut shoulder to shoulder, head raised and hair bristling along their backs. Deep grunts, jaw chomping and mouth frothing continues.
• In a fight, boars face each other with their shoulders in opposition and apply sideways pressure. They circle around, biting and slashing at each other with their tusks. They may charge each other with mouths wide open and bite. The loser turns and runs away squealing.
• Subsequently after a win, the winning dominant boar need only grunt to get submission. Newly-mixed boars fight less if they are both put in a strange environment.