Sheltering behaviour of shorn and unshorn sheep in mixed or separate flocks |
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| Affiliation: | 1. CSIRO, Division of Animal Production, Pastoral Research Laboratory, Private Mail Bag, Armidale, N.S.W. 2350 Australia;2. CSIRO, Division of Animal Production, Ian Clunies Ross Animal Research Laboratory, P.O. Box 239, Blacktown, N.S.W. 2148 Australia;1. Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Purdue University, 715 Clinic Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2038, United States;2. Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, 703 Third Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2038, United States;1. Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA;2. Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA;1. Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of São Paulo, Pirassununga, Brazil;2. Institute of Animal Science, São Paulo Agrobusiness Technology Agency, Nova Odessa, Brazil;1. Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, United States;2. Center for Zoo and Aquarium Animal Welfare and Ethics, Detroit Zoological Society, Royal Oak, MI, United States;3. Zoo Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, United States;1. Department of Ethology, Institute of Animal Sciences, 104 00 Prague, Czech Republic;2. Department of Ethology and Companion Animal Science, Faculty of Agrobiology Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, 165 21 Prague, Czech Republic |
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| Abstract: | Lambing ewes or wethers in mixed flocks of unshorn and recently shorn sheep, in small gently-sloping (1 in 76) paddocks, were examined for evidence of mutual interaction in their sheltering behaviour. Their distribution in paddocks containing a small sheltered area of grass hedges, sited centrally or at the higher or lower boundaries, was compared with that in paddocks without shelters.During calm weather, in daylight, the sheep largely behaved as one flock, but in windy weather, and at night, most shorn sheep congregated in shelter, while unshorn sheep remained away from shelter. There was no evidence that the inclusion of shorn sheep in a flock of unshorn sheep increased the use of shelter by the unshorn sheep; evidence that the presence of unshorn sheep reduced the sheltering behaviour by shorn sheep was equivocal.Both shorn and unshorn ewes and wethers tended to congregate at the higher end of the paddocks, and the use of shelter by shorn sheep declined as the distance of the shelter from the higher end of the paddock increased, despite the absence of alternative shelter. Clearly, the selection of sites on which to establish shelter will have marked effects on the use that sheep make of shelter. |
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