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Does lambing season affect mother-young relationships and lamb vigor in D’man sheep reared in oases?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2020

A. Dhaoui Open the ORCID record for A. Dhaoui [Opens in a new window] ,
M. Chniter ,
F. Lévy ,
R. Nowak  and
M. Hammadi
A. Dhaoui*
Affiliation:
Laboratoire d’Elevage & Faune Sauvage, LR16IRA04, Institut des Régions Arides, Institution de la Recherche et de l’Enseignement Supérieur Agricoles, Route D’Jorf km 22.5, Médenine4119, Tunisie Faculté des Sciences de Gabès, Université de Gabès, Cité Erriadh, Gabès6072, Tunisie
M. Chniter
Affiliation:
Laboratoire d’Elevage & Faune Sauvage, LR16IRA04, Institut des Régions Arides, Institution de la Recherche et de l’Enseignement Supérieur Agricoles, Route D’Jorf km 22.5, Médenine4119, Tunisie Departement des sciences animales, Institut National Agronomique de Tunisie, 43 Av Charles Nicolle, Tunis1082, Tunisia
F. Lévy
Affiliation:
PRC, INRAE, CNRS, IFCE, Université de Tours, Nouzilly37380, France
R. Nowak
Affiliation:
PRC, INRAE, CNRS, IFCE, Université de Tours, Nouzilly37380, France
M. Hammadi
Affiliation:
Laboratoire d’Elevage & Faune Sauvage, LR16IRA04, Institut des Régions Arides, Institution de la Recherche et de l’Enseignement Supérieur Agricoles, Route D’Jorf km 22.5, Médenine4119, Tunisie Ecole Doctorale SIS, Université de Gabès, Cité Erriadh, Gabès6072, Tunisie
*
†E-mail: amel.ghiloufi@yahoo.com
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Abstract

Although sheep are known to be seasonal breeders and give birth in winter, not all of them follow this trend. A few breeds can be mated and give birth all year round, meaning that mothers and neonates will have to face contrasting climatic conditions. The aim of this study was to test whether lambing season affects maternal and neonatal behaviors in D’man sheep. During four different lambing seasons (winter, autumn, summer and spring), periparturient ewes (n = 111) and their lambs (n = 213) were kept under 24-h-video surveillance in order to record postpartum behaviors. Mother-young preference was tested around 48 h after parturition. Lamb vigor was studied by the determination of birth weight, early postnatal behavior and rectal temperature at birth and 48 h later. Litter expulsion time was not affected by lambing season, but birth weight was biased against summer and winter born lambs. Ewes provided a higher intensity of care to their offspring in winter: latency for grooming was shorter and time spent grooming was longer compared to lambing in spring and summer (P = 0.01 in all cases). On the other hand, lambs were the most active in spring as they were faster to extend their hind legs (P = 0.01), stand up (P = 0.04) and reach the udder (P = 0.04). Rectal temperature at 48 h was affected by season of birth (P < 0.001) with higher values observed in summer. Glycemia variation between birth and 48 h was the lowest in spring born lambs and plasma levels increased less in spring born lambs than in winter (P < 0.0001), autumn (P < 0.0001) and summer born lambs (P < 0.0001). In the choice test, mothers clearly preferred their own young and no season effect was detected except that in the first minute of the test they spent less time near their own young in winter than in the other seasons (P = 0.04). Lambs also chose their mother successfully without any major effect of the season however, but winter born lambs were the least vocal (P = 0.01). Overall, this study show that maternal care, lamb behavior and vigor vary lightly according to seasons, albeit not in a consistent manner. In conclusion, a season is no more detrimental than another for the onset of mother-young relationships.

Keywords

parturitionmaternal behaviorneonate behaviorbondingglycemia
Type
Research Article
Information
animal , Volume 14 , Issue 11 , November 2020 , pp. 2363 - 2371
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Animal Consortium

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