Please login first
A descriptive study of social behaviour when mixing a new goat group: how gentle can it be?
* 1 , 2 , 3
1  Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Science, Campus of Biological Science and Agriculture, Autonomous University of Yucatán, Mérida, 97315, México
2  Universidade Federal de Maranhao, Sao Luis de Maranho, Brazil
3  Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Autonomous University of Campeche, Escárcega, 24350, Mexico
Academic Editor: Colin Scanes

Abstract:

When regrouping pregnant goats, blows can occur as this forms part of goats'social behaviour; however, this can induce abortions and impairment of animal welfare. The aim was to observe whether agonism and aggressive behaviours could be mitigated through habituation among goats that must be fused into a herd. At the farm from UADY (Mérida, México), 70 resident, pregnant adult goats, and a new group of 24 non-pregnant goats purchased from a local farm were used. All were in a good health state; the protocol was approved by the Bioethics Committee (UADY, ref# CB-CCBA D-2014-003). Prior to mixing, both groups remained apart for a period longer than one month. Habituation was considered as the repeated and gradual exposure to frequency and intensity of stimuli without negative or positive consequences for animals. A four-step program exposed all animals to 1) three days of 10 minutes of vocalization records from both groups plus hair and faeces; 2) three days of riding on a leash in groups of three goats from the new group in front of the pen of the resident goats; 3) four days of grazing in the same paddock but separated by wire mesh; and 4) two days of grazing together in the same paddock, with qualitative observations of behaviour through scan sampling. From the results, during steps one and two, vocalization and sniffing behaviours were displayed in 100% of individuals of both groups. A total of 50% of them attempted biting during step two. For step three, a third of goats showed behaviour such as pushing with the head, and bite attempts were observed in all goats. Finally, during step four, only sniffing and no aggression events were observed in 100% of animals. We concluded that after 12 days of habituation, an absence of aggressive behaviour and a low intensity of agonism was observed when mixing goats.

Keywords: Handling; mixing groups; social behaviour; farm animals
Top