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: 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: Cattle Part 3

CATTLE BEHAVIOUR BASICS: PART 3

Reproduction: Cows: Bulls: Birth: Cow-calf relations

By Dr Clive Dalton


Cows

• Cows will breed all year round in New Zealand latitudes and are not as affected by the day/night pattern (photoperiodicity) as sheep, goats and deer. But cows’ breeding activity may be reduced in the darker days of mid winter.
• Cows start to cycle usually about 6 weeks after calving. They can show heat 3 weeks after calving but rarely conceive to this mating.
• They may also show a “silent heat” with ovulation but no outward heat signs. More problems are seen in Holstein Friesians than Jerseys.
• A cow ovulates a few hours after the end of standing heat, which has important implications for artificial insemination to ensure an effective pregnancy.
• Puberty is about 6-9months of age but some heifer calves can show heat before that. This can be a hazard, as they can get pregnant as early as 4 months old and have to be aborted. It is not a good idea to let a yearling have a calf.
• Cattle cycle every 21 days (range 18-24 days) if not mated, and are on heat for about 8 hours (range 2 -12 hours).

Signs of heat in the cow

• Vocalise a lot.
• Vaginal discharge - clear viscous fluid.
• Walk around a lot to find other cows.
• Cows form Sexually Active Groups (SAGs) of 3-5 cows.

SAG. Which cow is on heat, which ones coming on, and which ones going off?

• Cows on heat mount other cows.
• They stand to be mounted.

• They "hold' their milk” and don't have a full "let down".
• The cow is the only animal that shows this clearly defined persisting mounting behaviour, which is thought to have evolved to give visual signals to the bull.
• But note that a cow that will stand for another cow will not immediately stand for the bull. This has a “teasing” effect on the bull and while challenging his libido concentrates his semen as excess accessory gland fluid dribbles off.

Heat detection methods

Painted tail that has been scuffed off. Tail dock is illegally too short -
it must cover the vulva if removed. Tail docking is in decline now.

• The most common (and cost effective) method of heat detection used in NZ dairy herds is tail paint. The top of the cow's tail is painted with a thick paint, and when dry it is scuffed off indicating that another cow has mounted her. The traffic light colour sequence is best to use with tail paint.
• Other methods are to use a range of adhesive devices that trigger colours or show scratch marks when rubbed by a mounting cow.
• A "chin-ball harness" was developed to fit on the bull’s head and where a roller ball in a tank of paint left a mark on the cows back when the bull stood with his chin on the cow to test her stage of oestrus, when he mounted, and when he dropped back from mounting.
  

Birth

• A cow may spend couple of hours seeking out a birth site, and going through the first stages when the calf moves into the birth canal and the water bag appears.

First stage - cow lying pressing and water bag appears
(Photo Karen Managh)

• The next "delivery" stage where her waters burst and the calf appears should take about 15 minutes. If it's longer, then investigate what is going on or get help. The calf should be born in a diving position - front legs and head first. If not, you'll need to sort out the problem and may need professional help.
• The final stage is passing of the afterbirth, which the cow may eat for hormonal benefit and removal from predators in wild.

Final stage - calf safely delivered, and cow stands up to lick calf.
Rapid bonding takes place now. Afterbirth not cleared yet.
(Photo Karen Managh)

• Disturbance will upset and delay this pattern. It can have bad effects on the calf as it and the birth canal dries out and makes the process difficult.
• The calf should be on its feet in 15-30 minutes and should start teat-seeking. It's vitally important that the calf gets colostrum and it needs at least 2 litres before 6 hours old.
• The calf nuzzles the side of cow feeling for warm bare skin with teats. It can be very frustrating for calf, especially if their mother is a heifer as she may panic and turn to look at calf instead of standing still and encouraging suckling.
• Inexperienced dams may even attack the calf and not stand still and nuzzle calf's tail area to encourage it to suck.
• Bonding is very quick in cattle and takes only a few minutes. It is based first on smell and then on sight.
• This can lead to problems of recording accurate parentage in large herds where groups of cows are synchronised to calve together. Staff have to make dam-calf Identification decisions that can be 13% wrong. Fortunately parentage can now be confirmed by DNA tests.
• Most cows will not accept another calf after she has smelled and seen it unless you play other tricks on her (see later). But some cows will accept any alien calves.
• The calf will follow the cow or any moving object a few hours after birth.
• Calves often fall into drains during this early mothering period as they stagger about and can also fall on to the power fence and the constant shock on their wet body can kill them.
  

Cow calf relationship

Dexter cow and week-old calf. (Photo Karen Managh)

• When to remove a calf from her dairy cow mother is often debated as an animal welfare issue. The question is to find which system causes least stress on cow and calf.
• The general practice is to remove the calf as soon as it has had sufficient colostrum, which may be a few hours after birth. It is argued that this is less stressful than removal at four days when milk can go to the factory. The cow's colostrum production is reduced to acceptable levels after 4 days.
• In the wild, cattle are "lying out" species that hide their calves and suckle them at intervals during the day.
• The cow and calf spend the night together, have an early morning suckle then the calf lies down while the cow goes off grazing.
  
• An individual cow may graze close by her own calf and act as guardian of the crèche. If a calf bellows then its mother will return.
• Around mid morning, one or two calves will call out and most cows will then return to suckle their calves.
• The same pattern occurs in the afternoon. Then in the evening cows return to suckle and spend the night with their calves.
• After 2-3 weeks, cows are more closely associated with their calves that will then follow their dams to graze and rest near them.
  

Social order in cows & calves

• Cattle show a very clearly defined social order called a "bunt order" as they use their heads to sort it out.
• If cattle are horned, then they have a big advantage over polled cows. This may cause problems in mixed groups in yards and at slaughter plants.
• Horns bruise meat, damage hides and injure people and should be removed at birth with the hot cauterising iron and local anaesthetic, or genetically by using polled bulls.
• Social order can be a very important issue in milking herds affecting cow flow.
• It will be an issue with milking robot as dominant cows can block the flow through the unit.
• Social order is also important with communally fed calves. There is a need to regularly draft calves to keep them of similar size and hence reduce bullying.
• The social order developed in calves can last till they enter the herd.
• Social facilitation is important when ad lib feeding as one calf can trigger feeding.
• Group-fed calves are better socialised than those reared in isolation.
• Calves can discriminate between objects, black versus white and large versus small.

Bulls

• Bulls will mate all year round and do not show a "rut" like sheep, goats and deer.
• Mounting and ejaculation are very quick in the bull. He grasps cow with his front legs and his whole weight is propelled forward on the cow at ejaculation.
  
• This has safety implications for heifers mated by large stud bulls that can damage them. Heifers are best mated by smaller bulls.
• A bull may serve a cow up to 3 times before she stops accepting him. In wild herds, the bull hangs around a cow for a day or both before and after mating.
  
• On the farm he is generally allowed two services and is then separated. This is danger time, as the bull always wants one more mount, and tries to get back to the cow. The human in the way is at high risk of being pushed or charged.
• Running one bull with 30-50 cows (dairy or beef) is normal practice, and the bull is changed regularly incase he is infertile.
• Fighting among bulls is common during mating and injuries are common, e.g. to shoulder, legs, and penis.
• In the wild Chillingham herd in UK, the king bull does all the mating until he is challenged by a young bull and they usually fight to the death for leadership.
• Bulls are regularly reared in homosexual groups from 4-18months old so mounting and fighting behaviour is common, often leading to injury. This is especially the case with beef bulls.

Bull libido

• Bulls may have to learn how to mate a cow, and this may take a few days to learn (and waste time) at the start of mating.
  
• Libido testing can be done using the "Blockey test" where a cow is restrained in head bail and the number of mounts made by each bull is recorded.
  
• This must be done under veterinary supervision to avoid injury to the cow, which must be changed regularly.

Farming bulls for beef

Yearling Friesian bulls reared for beef

• Farming bulls for beef is a major enterprise in New Zealand and provides lean export beef (grinding beef) for the USA hamburger trade.
• Farmers run mainly Holstein Friesians, which are obtained as surplus bull calves from the dairy industry. Bulls grow well and should average 1kg liveweight/day over their lives.
• This is now a specialist enterprise where knowledge of animal behaviour pays dividends.
• After about 12 months, bulls become territorial and fighting often increases. They dig holes to mark territory and wreck fences and gates during their activity periods.
• Regular riding goes on and if one bull accepts this, he will be ridden regularly by others and can be injured. Bulls clearly prefer to ride rather than be ridden and will move away quickly from their assailants if they are strong to fight and then escape.
• Injured or sick bulls will be ridden to death if left in the mob and have to be taken out. Rarely can you put them back, even after a few days as they are seen as strangers again. If returned to the mob then become a good target to ride again and upset the whole mob.
• Mobs of beef bulls are less of a threat to neighbours' cows than is often imagined, as they seem to prefer their homosexual mates until they get a taste for female sex.
• Successful bull farmers use a few tricks to keep them quiet.
• Always keep them grazing. When they are idle or bored they play up.
• Run them at low stocking rates to give plenty of personal and grazing space.
• Try not to disturb them as they are very alert to changes.
• Have at least one empty paddock between mobs of bulls.
• Use shelterbelts so one mob cannot see the others grazing.
• Run a donkey Jack with the mob or a horned Billy goat to discourage fighting.
• Move them from a bike or horse with a good cattle dog and not on foot. Have help within reach.
• Always be alert to the sound of their roaring. They use a high pitched confrontation roar when they see competitors or may have got out.
• Don't graze bulls in paddocks near neighbours' cows unless the fence is very strong and electrified.
  

Animal behaviour and welfare: Deer Part 3

DEER BEHAVIOUR BASICS: NUMBER 3

Reproduction: Birth behaviour: Handling: Capture

By Dr Clive Dalton

The female

Red deer hind

• Females come into oestrus in the autumn with declining daylight and the "rut" of the male stimulates this further.
• Farmed red deer females reach puberty around 16 months old when they weigh about 65kg. Body weight is important and hinds below 52-55kg generally do not conceive. Few problems are seen in the wild where stocking rates are lower and animals may be better fed and less stressed.
• In the wild, females are attracted to the stag's rutting areas by his roaring. They may drift from one of these stands to another before they settle.
• Red hinds come into heat every 18 days (26days for fallow) and will continue for about 8 cycles if she does not become pregnant.
• Oestrus in Red deer hinds lasts about 24 hours during which she will be served by the dominant stag or other lower-order males.
• The hind in oestrus produces a secretion described as having a strong penetrating smell. This combines with another sweet musty odour she produces. She will also smell strongly of the stag after mating.
• Hinds on heat hold their tails high and there can be fights or threats between them.
• They may try to interest the stag by running past him with head low and neck extended and chewing. On one of these forays the hind may stop and let the stag mount if she is at peak oestrus.
• She urinates and this excites the male further to drink the urine and lick her vulva.
• Pregnancy in red deer is from 228-231 days (229 days in fallow).
• Male offspring are generally carried longer than females. As a result dams suckling males are less likely to breed next season (or will calve later) than dams suckling females.
• Wild red deer in Scotland on the island of Rhum had about 12 calves in their lifetime when well fed but well-farmed deer should produce more. In farming situation females would be replaced long before old age.
  

The male

• Red stags reach puberty between 9-15 months old and fallow form 12-15 months. In the wild a stag does not have the status to set up a harem before about 5 years old, but this depends on competition among other stags.
• Stags show a definite rut brought on by declining day length in autumn, and in the wild they move to traditional stands where they roar and attract a harem of females.
• They are at their peak of sexual prowess during the rut but will go on mating and be fertile for about 6 months after. After that they are generally sexually quiet.

Antlers

Red deer stags in velvet

• Antler growth is related to this sexual cycle, starting by the male growing velvet antler in spring and culminating in hard antler in the rut. Then antlers are cast before the following spring to restart the cycle.
• Antlers are not horn. They are laid down as cartilage which is then converted into bone. Antler is one of the fastest growing tissues.
• Increasing daylight and declining testosterone (the opposite to autumn) stimulates velvet growth. Velvet is rich in blood and is very delicate so stags avoid conflict at this time to protect it. If they fight they rear up and use their feet rather than their antlers.
• Antlers gain extra tines with age. Young red stags are called "spikers" and fallow "prickets" as they have just one basic antler or spike.
• Antlers have a number of functions:
• In the velvet they help to regulate body temperature (a debatable fact).
• They give off a scent after the velvet antler has been rubbed over the subcutaneous glands under the hind legs.
• Hard antler is used as tools to dig for feed in snow and mark trees or "threshing" marking of the territory.
• Antlers enhance social status and are used as a means of recognition by other deer.
• Damage to antlers or their loss, especially during the rut causes and immediate lowering of status of the stag and he will be quickly challenged.
• Antlers are designed to lock into another stag's antlers and fighting is really a pushing game to gain status. Stags threaten their opponent during the rut by lowering their heads and pointing their antlers in threat.
• Only when one stag is weakened can its opponent usually get a side attack and cause serious damage to soft tissue of the body.
• During the rut in the wild, rival stags may have antler clashes interspersed with a threat display where stags move on a parallel path to each other over short distances, showing their lateral prowess, body size, main and neck, then roaring for periods of 3-15 minutes.
• This then can erupt into head fights, with the challenger always making sure of an escape route.

Castration

• Castration of males early in life (during the first year) will stop the development of the pedicle from which the antlers grows so the animals end up polled.
• These castrates are called "haviers", and naturally polled fertile males are called "hummels".
• Males castrated later when more mature will shed any antlers they have within a few weeks of the operation, and future antler growth will continue for about 4 months after castration.
• Castrates can develop other male characteristics such as an enlarged neck, mane growth and deepening voice. They can still be dangerous in the rut so care is needed.
  

Stag behaviour during the roar

Fallow buck in velvet

• Stags urinate and ejaculate along their bellies up to their chests, and will wallow in mud if they can to attract females with their strong odour rich in pheromones.
• There is about a 4 second interval between roars, and they do this while carrying out challenges to other stags, going around with neck outstretched.
  
• The tone of the roar reflects the stag's social status, so many less dominant stags will not even challenge them and this prevents encounters.
• Stags herd their harem with chin extended in a threat posture, running around the group of up to about 20 red deer hinds in farmed conditions.
  
• Studies on Rhum showed red stags have harems of 6 or more and there is plenty of interchange between harems. The largest harem was 20 hinds. Eighty percent of hinds on Rhum were held in harems.
• The stag smells the vulva of each hind about every 30 minutes and he also smells the ground where the hinds have been lying. After a Flehmen response he investigates them further.
• The odours excreted by the hind excite the stag and he starts teeth grinding and tongue flicking. After smelling her urine he will show the Flehmen response.
• Stags regularly chase hinds trying to mount them while flicking their tongue.
• The stag guards hinds coming into oestrus for up to 12 hours before they will stand for mating.
• Young stags from 2-7 years old are unable to defend harems against older dominant stags in the wild. On farms this inter-stag competition is prevented when farmers are selective breeding, and in any case stud stags are too valuable to risk injury through competition.
• Mating is very quick. The stag pauses for intromission and after a pelvic thrust leaps forward leaving the ground during ejaculation with a near-vertical body posture.
• After dismounting the stag roars repeatedly, urinates, stands with his head low and then begins to guard the hind again. He may attempt to mate her again in half an hour.
  

Farmed stags

• One stag to 50 hinds is an effective joining ratio for genetic improvement, and replacing a single sire every 3 weeks will ensure a high conception rate and reduce the risk of a sire having low fertility.
• Swapping stags during the rut can be a dangerous management procedure, especially if they have antlers. Antlers should be removed for safety but some breeders selecting for antler production leave the antlers on to show clients the quality of the stag's "head".
• Stags needed for group mating should be mixed prior to antler growth if possible to allow them to learn to live together.
• During mating if the dominant stag becomes exhausted, he should be removed to let other stags do his job.
  
• Subordinate stags search out females but the dominant stag claims the mating.
  

Birth behaviour

Hinds before birth

• In late pregnancy hinds spend more time resting.
• A few days before calving they become restless and farmed hinds may pace the fences.
• Some become aggressive and bellow more frequently.
• The hind's swelling udder and vulva are signs of approaching birth.
• About 2-22 hours before birth they'll try to separate to the fringes of the herd into a quiet place if possible. This is no problem in the wild but can be one in farming.
• Hinds prefer high ground for calving, presumably for security reasons.
  

Hinds during birth

• With the onset of strong contractions, the hind stops grazing and settles on her birth site alternatively standing and lying down.
• With heavy contractions she rolls and strains heavily.
• After the calf is born, the hind may lie for up to 5 minutes and then get up and lick the calf and all excess birth fluids, presumably to clean up the birth site so as not to attract predators.
• The afterbirth is passed from 2-5 hours after birth and the hind carefully eats this.
• Birth weights of farmed deer are 7.5-9.5kg for reds and 3.6-4.5kg for fallow.
• Few difficult births have been observed but mortality is highest is young (above 10kg) calves and those that are very small.
• Mortality at birth increases with crossbreeding by mating to larger terminal sires (e.g. wapiti x red), and for hinds with their first calf.
  

Hinds and calves after birth

Fawns like to hide in long cover and are 'planted' there by their mothers

• After being licked, it takes about 30 minutes for the calf to stand and start to follow its dam off the birth site.
• The calf seems to be very attached to the birth site in the early days of life, but in farming situations, some do move around more with their dams.
• Time intervals between birth, finding the teat and starting to suckle vary from 10-130 minutes. The chances of survival drop rapidly with long intervals.
• After suckling, the calf moves away from the hind and drops down in the grass or bushes to lie very flat and merge with the environment.
• The dam will graze within about 50 m of the hidden calf and with time this distance is increased to as much as 1km.
• Studies showed that dams will visit their calves to suckle about 2.8 times/day in the first week, reducing to once per day during week 4.
• The average suckling times last about 150 seconds in week one, dropping to 50-80 seconds in week two.
• While sucking the calf moves around all four teats and some sucklings could last up to 4 minutes.
• Recorded milk intake of fawns was measured and peaked at 1400-2000g/day soon after birth and dropped to 150-630g/day in early lactation. Some well-fed hinds have produced up to 140-180kg of milk in a 150-day lactation.
• Calves start to nibble grass at 3 weeks old and will graze regularly by 6 weeks of age.
• Hinds are very alert and nervous as they approach their hidden calves for suckling, compared to their more-relaxed behaviour during grazing.
• During suckling the calf is stimulated to urinate and defaecate by the hind licking its perianal area. If you rear an orphan calf, remember to imitate this action with your fingers.
• The hind then eats these waste products and she does this for the first two weeks after birth. She will keep on licking the perianal area for up to 6 weeks after birth.
• While the dams are with their calves for suckling, the pair may go for very short excursions from 3-30m. When calves leave their dams to go and lie down again, they usually don't go more than 20m.
• After about 2-3 weeks, calves will follow their mothers and settle into normal herd life.
• There is considerable social communication in the herd between hinds and calves. Hinds bark at other hinds warning them not to come too close to their lying-out calf. The high-pitched piping notes of the calves are answered by muted mewing-lowing sound of the hind.
• Fallow does may combine barking with foot stamping and this is very effective in spreading alarm to others. They also lift their tails to expose their underside as another alarm signal.
  

Handling calves

• Handling calves, e.g. for tagging has the potential to upset normal maternal behaviour. They may squeal and this upsets their dams that stay about 30m from the handler.
• If calves are handled during the first two days they "freeze" and their heart beats drop from the normal of 140-170 beats/min to 50-60/min. Normal rates resume within a minute of leaving them alone.
• After 2-5 days old, calves will run off when disturbed.
• With newly-captured deer in heavily stocked paddocks with little cover, dams have been seen to take their calves in their teeth and flail them with their forelegs after being touched by the stockperson.
• If you have to handle calves for recording, do it on the first day after birth and wear gloves which may reduce smell. Some handlers claim it makes very little difference.
• Force the calf to freeze in the area they were found in. Tag the calf and move away as soon as possible, and record the dam-offspring details later using binoculars.
  

Effect of human handling

• Bottle fed deer have been shown to be strongly bonded to their human caretakers, and when tested at 4 years old did not mix with other deer and were more aggressive towards them.
• Hand-reared deer can become a problem as they mature. They are very big and can be very cheeky and pushy when they have lost their fear of humans.
• Hand reared stags are a liability and should be slaughtered before 15 months old. They can be very dangerous in autumn and human deaths are on record in New Zealand.
• Hand reared deer will come to a call up to 1km away. They can be useful as Judas animals to lead others to new paddocks.
• Weaning a calf from the hind doesn't seem to cause her very serious stress as seen in sheep. Hinds keep up their normal grazing and stop calling for their calf after about 24-30 hours after removal.

Capture and release of deer

• Being captured is very stressful for feral deer, and individuals vary greatly in the time they take to settle.
• Capture methods used are:
• Finding calves at birth and hand rearing them.
• Building a trap in their territory and attracting them in with feed.
• Shooting with tranquiliser darts.
• Bulldogging (leaping on them) from a helicopter.
• Netting from a helicopter.
• Mustering with helicopters or dogs.
• Captured deer may need to be treated with appropriate drugs to counteract stress.
• Release after capture can be very stressful too.
• Deer need to be released into a large area to allow them plenty of space, with trees for cover and left undisturbed for as long as possible.
• After capture their first reaction is usually to pace the fences and then go into cover and sulk.
• Water should be available and if possible a wallow provided.
• Don't release newly-captured deer into groups of strangers as they'll be upset and this will stress them even more.
• Red deer in panic tend to pace the fence and try to leap it from an oblique angle. Fallow run along the fence and tend to run at it head on and burst through the mesh
  

Animal behaviour and welfare: Horse Part 3

HORSE BEHAVIOUR BASICS: PART 3

Reproduction: Birth: Training

By Dr Clive Dalton

Reproduction

• Puberty in horses varies a lot with breed and it can occur from 8-24 months.
  
• Well-fed horses usually reach puberty at around 12 months, but feral horses would be much later.
• The mare's oestrous cycle is stimulated by increasing daylight so she is sexually active in spring and early summer.
• She comes into heat 4-18 days after foaling so the foal can be in a dangerous situation from the stallion wanting to mate her during this period in the wild.
  
• A mare is pregnant for 11 months and if not mated she will cycle every 3 weeks and she is on heat for 5-15 days.
• Sometimes you can get prolonged oestrus for several weeks (nymphomania) and it can be a real nuisance to the handlers.

Heat signs

• Plenty of vocalisation - especially if she sees other horses.
• Frequent stopping to urinate.
• Standing with hind legs parted and in a crouch with tail held up.
• Swollen vulva.
• Viscous vaginal fluid running from the vulva.
• Everting the vulva to expose the clitoris - called "clitoral flashing" or "winking"
• Restless - always looking for the company of other horses.
• Tail twitching.
• Stud mares are tested for standing oestrus using a "teaser" or small pony stallion that is too small to mate the mare. But don't believe that as some get very cunning!
• Mares not quite right on heat are happy to meet the stallion, but will squeal, kick and bite him when he tries to mount. They are best tested over a gate to prevent injury to both parties.
• A mare right on heat will stand firm when the stallion mounts and lean back to take his weight.
• After mating the stallion will stand around resting and the mare may come and try to stimulate him again.
  
• Hand mating can be a dangerous time for the handlers as there is always the risk of being kicked, stood on or bitten. Full protective clothing including head protection body armour and safety boots should be worn and strangers should be kept away.
• Mating is best done outside but if it is done indoors, make sure the roof is high enough so the mounted stallion does not injure his head on the roof beams. This has happened.
  

Birth behaviour

• Mares generally foal rapidly. First comes the initial stage when she prepares a birth site and gets ready to lie down. Then comes the delivery stage with the foal's head and front legs first like a diver, which is usually over in about 15 minutes.
• The foal is usually delivered with the mare resting and the membranes are burst when the foal hits the ground.
• So if there are delays in this procedure, which usually means problems, get veterinary attention urgently.
• There are more difficult births in thoroughbreds than other horse breeds/types.
• The mare should get up immediately and lick and chew the membranes, lessening the chances of the foal smothering. But an exhausted mare may not do this and the foal can be smothered.
• The mare should void the afterbirth in an hour and it's important to check this to avoid uterine infections.
• Bonding is done by the mare licking the foal, and it can spend several hours doing this. Licking helps blood circulation and warming the foal.
• Young mares (first time mothers) may strike the foal with their front feet. This may be a reaction to get it to stand and be ready to move off, to avoid predators being attracted by the birth site and afterbirth.
• About 80% of mares foal at night, peaking around midnight.
• A foal is usually on its feet in about 15 minutes.

• The foal's approach to the udder is important. It uses its long neck to avoid kicks and seeks out a warm area of bare skin where there should be a teat.
• Good mares will stand and encourage teat seeking by nuzzling the foal's rear end and genital area.
• Poor mares will keep moving and looking at the foal, preventing it getting round to her udder for a suck. It's vital that the foal has colostrum in the first 6-8 hours.
• A foal should suck within 30 mins of birth. It then sucks at frequent intervals of 50-75 times in 24 hours in the early weeks of life.
• Suckling lasts from 15 seconds to 2 minutes as the foal stands with legs apart and tail raised. It keeps well tucked in touching the mare's side.
• After the mare and foal move away from the birth site, the foal keeps in physical contact bumping the mare as they go along.
• Bonding is rapid at birth (within 2 hours) but foals can be fostered on to mares for up to 3-4 days. But the success of this depends on the nature of the mare and some mares will not have any other foal but her own. The skin of a dead foal is often tied on to a foster foal to fool the mare.
  

Early handling

• There are great benefits from handling and fondling foals soon after birth so they associate humans with positive experiences. They need to see you as part of their environment and not as a threat.
• But some horse experts say you can overdo this so care is needed. The danger is that the foal may end up being so friendly (and cocky) that it will be more difficult to dominate later. The behaviour developed early you’ll see later as foals are quick learners and remember.
• In the first few days just get the foal familiar with people.
• Experts suggest 3 weeks of age is early enough to start handling the foal and get this well established before 6 weeks of age.
• Start training by removing the foal from the mare for a few hours, speaking quietly and gently while encircling its neck with your arms. Release it only when it has relaxed and is comfortable with your actions.
• Fit a soft leather halter and lead the foal when the mare is led. The foal should never be driven. It must learn to come forward “off pressure” and this is taught with a rope around it’s rear end.
• Brush the foal, handle it often and introduce it to a variety of noises.
• From 3 months old, halter it regularly and lead it around vehicles, along farm tracks, etc, and get it used to different situations and especially noises.
• Later training is done on the long rein, i.e. "lunging" to build up fitness and to learn voice commands.
• Thoroughbred trainers reckon a total of 20 days training between 3 weeks and a 12 months old is enough. Training need not be repetitive and more than 3 days in a row is too much.
• Some suggest Lesson 1 at 3 weeks, Handled again at 10 weeks and then 3 training sessions before weaning which covers yearlings coming up to sale time. They need to accept being led, bridled, covered, loading on and off floats, standing on their own in a box and walking in and out of doorways.
• Weight bearing should be delayed till the horse is mature, usually after 2 years old.
• Take plenty of opportunity to introduce the young horse to different experiences.
• Correct mouthing is critical - use the correct bit to prevent soreness."Breaking" horses is out - "gentling" is in. There are many sources of information on this subject now.
  

Training principles

• Remember horses are a panic species - they respond to stress or fear by flight.
• They use speed, bucking and kicking and biting to escape threats. The principle of modern schooling or gentling is to prevent the horse escaping from handler so it learns to accept human contact as providing safety and security.
• Horses are very teachable and have a considerable capacity to learn.
• But work within the animal's repertoire of ability. A horse will cannot learn anything if it's incapable of doing it.
• Horses have a good memory but do hot have the ability to reason. They lack initiative but are not dumb. They rely heavily on innate behaviour.
• They cannot cope well in new and novel situations. They cannot solve problems that go beyond simple associations or limited choices.
• Recognise the temperament of the horse and this will dictate your approach. Your first lessons will indicate how the temperament is going to affect progress, and you may have to rethink certain actions.
• Horses are right or left handed showing side preferences and brain lateralisation.
• In training do not scare the horse as this will set up flight responses.
• Remember punishment only suppresses behaviour: it does not eliminate it.
• Punishment incorrectly given, or given to excess makes behaviour worse as the horse's sensitivity is reduced.
• "Reward training" is the simplest and best method, but reward must follow the correct and required action immediately. After a very short delay the association is lost.
• Rewards may include a pat on the neck, rest, food, or being able to see new and interesting things.
• In "gentling" a wild horse, handlers often start with a "carrot stick" which is a long stick with a leather thong on the end, which they use to rub the horse starting at the rear end. This imitates the feeling of mutual grooming, and the horse will enjoy this.
• Then the trainer moves up along the back to the shoulder, and finally to the head and nose. If you touch the head too early, all will be lost and you'll have to start again.
• Use "rewards" intermittently and do not reward for every correct response.
• Too much handling may lead to boredom and too little can produce a scared or reluctant horse.
• The trainer needs to be smarter than the horse. Problems mostly arise from what the trainer did wrong and not the animal.
• Break up the tasks to be learned into simple, basic steps and work from the known to the unknown.
• Always be consistent.
• The Monty Robert's principle (also attributed to many other trainers) is to drive the horse around a circular pen which is an alien territory for the horse, and then letting it come to you for security - when you are ready and want to let it come into your human space.
  

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.