Normal and abnormal sheep

behaviour
9.11.2023
 Senses

• Panoramic vision in sheep 330-360o,

binocular 30-50o.
• Discrimination of colours black, white,
brown, red, green, yellow. Poor
acomodation ability, to see objects on long
distance sheep must elevate head and
recognizes poorly depth of picture.
Senses
•Touch and vision are important in checking
quality of plants, phase of their growth, their
juicy. The sense of touch is important in
interaction between animals. Lambs seek
bodily contact with their dams
•Among senses of smell, vision and hearing the
greatest influence on sexual behaviour in
rams has vision. Lack of vision limits the
ability to detect ewes at heat and easy of
copulation. Lack of hearing has no influence of
sexual behaviour
• Senses
• Taste – sheep have the ability to
differentiate feedstuffs and taste is most
important sense deciding on nutritive
preferences; sweet and sour plants are
preferred, but bitter are avoided
• When presented with a variety of feeds,
sheep will select certain feeds over others.
In practical situations, such as under grazing
conditions with multiple forage species
present, the sheep will select different types
and species than goats or cattle.
• TASTE is the most important sense deciding on
nutritional preferences. Sweet and sour plants
are preferred, but bitter mostly removed.
• •TOUCH AND VISION are important in
evaluation of plants, their succulence and
phase of growth
 Social organisation
• •Social organisation of sheep is directed to
protect against predators and seeking food. Is
based on learned trust.
• •Depending of breed hierarchy is linear or more
complicated
• •In family groups fights occurs rarely, as well as
attending behaviours
Social organisation (cont.)
• Number of hierarchic fights is greater in
one-sex, one-age groups, than in mixed
flocks
• Older animals (rams) are more inclined to
perform aggressive/ agonistic behaviour.
Hierarchic fight in rams (Sambraus 1978)
Hierarchic fight in rams (fot. M.Iwaszkiewicz)
Wrzosówka- polish sheep breed
• Characterization of flock structure
• •Merino keep tightly associated flocs and rarely
create subgroups. They graze close to other
animals and only at extremely food insufficience
divide to subgroups according to age or sex.

www.wckp.lodz.pl/.../ zdjecia/baran_merynos.gif
Characterization of flock structure (cont.)
• Southdowns normally create any
subgroups that are tightly associated at
pasture but not at resting.

babydollsouthdowns.com/
Babydoll_Sheep_1.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
commons/b/bb/Southdown2.jpg
Characterization of flock structure (cont.)

• Dorset Horns typically form many

subgroups
www.ansi.okstate.edu/.../
rarebreeds.co.nz sheep/dorset/hrnram.gif
• In the case of subgroups creation the flock
remains socially monolith, because
membership of subgroups is changing
Olkuska sheep on the pasture
Ungarische Zakelschaf (www.oebsz.at)
Montafoner Steinschaf (www.oebsz.at)
Steinschnucken (www.oebsz.at)
Tiroler Steinschaf (www.oebsz.at)
Kärntner Brillenschaf (carinthian glasses
sheep) (www.oebsz.at)
Jura (www.oebsz.at)
Waldschaf (forest sheep) (www.oebsz.at)
Krainer Steinschaf (rock sheep)
(www.oebsz.at)
Alpines Steinschaf (alpian rock
sheep)(www.oebsz.at)
Tiroll mountain sheep (the most commonly
kept breed in Austria) (www.oebsz.at)
Brown mountain sheep (www.oebsz.at)
Subgroups of large flock at insufficient
access to food
Large sheep flock at pasture
Practical aspects of flock structure in sheep
• Independently of breed, flocks of sheep formed
by animals from different sources are unable to
integrate fully
• If the pen is sufficiently large, each group may
utilize other place, even when quality of food is
better only in one of this places.
• It may cause the undernutrition in part of the
animals.
• Position during flock translocation is highly
dependent to social dominance, but it was not
undoubtedly determined that one sheep is
voluntary leading
• When shade is available at summer, sheep
utilize it, in case of lack of shade they stay at
groups near each another, keep heads down
under neighbouring individuals, they rarely lie
down
small flock on pasture
Zabawowe grożenie u jagniąt
Seeking for the shadow at hot
Sheeps’ method of survive the high
temperature at lack of shade
Following the other individuals
Following to others
„Sheep scud”
 Pasture
•
• Two main periods of pasture are observed –
early morning and late afternoon. Fromlat
morning to middle afternoon sheep are less
active.
• Pasture period may differ from 5,5-10 hours
depending from many factors: day lenght,
environmental factors, breed, availability of
pasture and water, topography.
Pasture of mixed sheep and goat flock
 Sexual behaviour
• When ewe at heat is urinating, ram reacts by
sniffing, flehmen response. Tongue is drawing
out and retracted, ram is bitting wool of the
ewe, elevates and lowers front limb
• Dominant ram may prevent mating by other
rams, but not necessarily obtains the highest
number of mated ewes, number of jumps on
ewe, or total mating number.
Washing away a weaker ram
from the ewe at heat
• In sexual behaviour of rams the most important
sense is vision. Lack of vision limits abitility to
detect ewes at heat and mating efficiency.
• •Smell of ewe at heat stimulates rams, even
whet ewe avoid the ram and is kept separately
Courtship in sheep
Interactions between rams in unisex group
Courtship in sheep
During mating season rams may copulate
more than 20 times a day
Flehmen
Flehmen
 Care of
offspring
Sucking the udder by lamb
 Care of offspring
• Some ewes stay at delivery in flock others need
isolation.
• Within few seconds after delivery ewe turns to lamb
and starts lick vigorously and devours fetal
membranes.
• Lambs follow the mother immediately after birth
• Lamb must find the udder within 1-2 hours after birth.
Is seems that main influence had visual stimuli.
• New lambs are accepted immediately after birth and
some ewes adopt lambs when missed self lambs.
Long wool in ewe
 Care of offsprings
• •Lambs recognize voice of dam based on
individual differences. Dams recognize lambs
based on different features.
• •Reciprocal identification between ewe and
their lamb is based at nearness on smell, and
on long distance on vision and hearing
• •Ewe may recognize their lambs only based on
visual and auditory stimuli, but appripriate smell
stimuli are necessary to allow the lamb sucking
Normal (A i B) and abnormal (C) behaviour
of ewe to their lamb ( Hafez 1975)
• Abnormal
behaviour of
dams
Sometimes dam may
leave the lamb, butt
them, or withdraw when
it perform sucking. That
behaviours are more
common in dams with
twins, when they are
unable to recognize that
they possess more than
one lamb.
 Podstawowe wymagania co do
dobrostanu owiec (wg Sosidou i Driessen 2008)
• poziom żywienia odpowiedni do zachowania dobrego stanu
zdrowia i wigoru
• swobodny dostęp do wody o odpowiedniej jakości, aby
zaspokoić potrzeby fizjologiczne
• zapewniony kontakt socjalny z innymi owcami oraz
odpowiednia przestrzeń stania, kładzenia się i wyciągania
kończyn
• ochrona przed drapieżnikami
• ochrona przed bólem, urazami i chorobami
• ochrona przed sytuacjami i pogodą, które mogłyby zagrażać
życiu
• zorganizowanie odpowiednich zabezpieczeń na okoliczność
katastrof naturalnych (np. zapory ogniowe, zapasy karmy)
• miejsca zabiegowe, które w normalnym działaniu nie powodują
urazów i minimalizują stres owiec
The main behavioural disturbances associated
with worsening the welfare in sheep and goat
Agonistic behaviour
fight

fear

escape Enoumorsly
Inappropriate elevated Social
environment activity isolation

Posture Decreased
changes activity Stereotypies
Heath
disturbances

Abnormal
pain behaviour

Limited self care behaviour

Good relations of sheep with the owner
Sheep at winter of the pasture
 Stereotypies in sheep
• Trichophagia of adult sheep - (in course of scrapie,
osteomalacia, mineral deficiency) the back part of one
individual ( mostly low position in the hierarchy) is
teased. The wool is removed almost totally, after
„grazing” one individual, the next is eaten.
• Such behaviour indicates the persistent stress inthe
flock.
• Prevention – Ensure the diet with sufficient content of
minerals and rouhage that alows proper rumiantion
Trichophagia in adult sheep
Trichophagia in adult sheep
 Stereotypies in sheep (cont.)
• T.of lambs - (mostly associated with mineral
deficiencies (especially phosphorus), too long
wool of mother sheep). Young lambs are
searching for teat, and are eating the wool on
the side and abdominal part of the mothers
body.
• Prevention- mother sheep herd should be
sheared before the lambing period. Both types
of trichophagia causes formation of
trichobezoars in the stomach and in
consequence possible obturations of the
digestive tract.
•When intensive confinement of sheep is practiced,
wool-picking may occur. Wool picking generally involves
one or more sheep picking wool from a less dominant
sheep. In some instances, however, a sheep may pick
its own wool.
•Although the stressfulness of this behavior to the
recipient is unknown, it is generally felt that the
occurrence of wool-picking reflects a chronic level of
stress in the entire pen. Providing sufficient fiber in the
diet to stimulate normal levels of rumination is
considered the best preventive, but the causes of this
behavior are undetermined.
 Stereotypies in sheep (cont.)
• Caudophagia (bitting the tail of newborn
lambs) and onychiophagia (bitting the claws of
lambs). Stereotyped behavior of mother sheep
associated with confinement, lack of open field
activity in period of parturition. Mostly
associated with overcrowding, poor light.
• In consequence of caudophagia biting off and
later purulent inflammations of tail-stump, anal
collaps.
• In consequence of onychiophagia
inflammations of lamb claws with lameness, in
extreme cases peeling the hoof box.
Consequences of caudophagia
Weaving in the sheep as „experimental
stereotypy”
 Weaving in the sheep
• Long term repeating the sequence of
weaving, at the same place, head tossing
to right and left
• Appearence after quiet period, when staff
is coming