Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-nr4z6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-05T10:05:40.025Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Induction of maternal behaviour in non-pregnant, hormone-primed ewes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

C. M. Dwyer  and
A. B. Lawrence
C. M. Dwyer
Affiliation:
Department of Genetics and Behavioural Sciences, Scottish Agricultural College, Edinburgh, Bush Estate, Penicuik EH26 0QE
A. B. Lawrence
Affiliation:
Department of Genetics and Behavioural Sciences, Scottish Agricultural College, Edinburgh, Bush Estate, Penicuik EH26 0QE
Get access

Abstract

It has been suggested that the induction of maternal behaviour in non-pregnant ewes by treatment with oestrogen and progesterone followed by artificial, mechanical vaginocervical stimulation (VCS), could be used to produce foster mothers for orphan or triplet lambs. To investigate the reliability of the technique, 46 non-pregnant sheep of two breeds (Suffolk (S) and Scottish Blackface (BF)) and two levels of experience (nulliparous (N) and multiparous (M)) were used. All ewes were given 6 weeks of treatment with vaginal sponges containing oestradiol and progesterone, followed by 2 min of VCS and exposure to a neonatal (< 2 days old) foster lamb. Plasma oestrogen and prolactin concentrations were significantly elevated by the hormonal treatment; prolactin was significantly higher in M ewes compared with N ewes (BFN = 91, SN = 107, BFM = 301, SM = 687 μg/l, P < 0·005). Significant udder development was seen in most ewes (proportionately 1·0 M v. 0·62 N, P = 0·01) and more M ewes produced milk than N ewes (0·67 v. 0·19, P < 0·005). No ewes showed maternal behaviour to the lamb from hormone treatment alone. After VCS, one of 26 N ewes and five of 12 M ewes expressed maternal behaviour. In the M ewes, significantly more S ewes were maternal than BF ewes (proportionately 0·75 SM v. 0·25 BFM, P < 0·05). It is concluded that the technique alone is not sufficiently reliable to be a useful fostering aid. It is suggested, however, that previous exposure to neonatal lambs, handling of ewes before testing and using newborn lambs, may be fruitful areas of investigation to improve the technique.

Keywords

fosteringmaternal behavioursheep
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Science , Volume 65 , Issue 3 , December 1997 , pp. 403 - 408
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexander, G. and Bradley, L. R. 1985. Fostering in sheep. IV. Use of restraint. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 14: 355–364.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alexander, G., Stevens, D. and Bradley, L. R. 1987. Fostering in sheep. V. Use of ungents to foster an additional lamb onto a ewe with a single lamb. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 17: 95–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Basiouni, G. F. and Gonyou, H. W. 1988. Use of birth fluids and cervical stimulation in lamb fostering. Journal of Animal Science 66: 872–879.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Deag, J. M. 1993. Keytime: a program system for recording and analysing behavioural data. Copyright John M. Deag 1987–1993.Google Scholar
Dwyer, C. M. and Lawrence, A. B. 1997. Variations in the maternal behaviour of primiparous, single-bearing ewes of a hill and a lowland breed of sheep. Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science, p. 184(abstr.).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kendrick, K. M., Costa, A. P. da, Hinton, M. R. and Keverne, E. B. 1992. A simple method for fostering lambs using anoestrous ewes with artificially induced lactation and maternal behaviour. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 34: 345–357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kendrick, K. M. and Keverne, E. B. 1991. Importance of oestrogen and progesterone priming the induction of maternal behaviour by vaginocervical stimulation in sheep: effects of maternal experience. Physiology and Behaviour 49: 745–750.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendrick, K. M., Keverne, E. B. and Baldwin, B. A. 1987. Intracerebroventricular oxytocin stimulates maternal behaviour in the sheep. Neuwendocrinology 46: 56–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendrick, K. M., Keverne, E. B., Hinton, M. R. and Goode, J. A. 1991a. Cerebrospinal fluid and plasma concentrations of oxytocin and vasopressin during parturition and vaginocervical stimulation in the sheep. Brain Research Bulletin 26: 803–807.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendrick, K. M., Lévy, F. and Keverne, E. B. 1991b. Importance of vaginocervical stimulation for the formation of maternal bonding in primiparous and multiparous parturient ewes. Physiology and Behaviour 50: 595–600.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keverne, E. B. and Kendrick, K. M. 1991. Morphine and corticotrophin-releasing factor potentiate maternal acceptance in multiparous ewes after vaginocervical stimulation. Brain Research 540: 55–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keverne, E. B., Lévy, F., Guevara-Guzman, R. and Kendrick, K. M. 1993. Influence of birth and maternal experience on olfactory bulb neurotransmitter release. Neuroscience 56:557–565.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keverne, E. B., Lévy, F., Poindron, P. and Linsay, D. R. 1983. Vaginal stimulation: an important determinant of maternal bonding in primiparous and multiparous ewes. Science 219: 81–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawrence, A. B., Petherick, J. C., McLean, K. A., Gilbert, C. L., Chapman, C. and Russell, J. A. 1992. Naloxone prevents interruption of parturition and increases plasma oxytocin following environmental disturbance in parturient sows. Physiology and Behaviour 52: 917–923.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Le Neindre, P., Boivin, X. and Boissy, A. 1996. Handling of extensively kept animals. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 49:73–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leng, G., Mansfield, S., Bicknell, R. J., Blackburn, R. E., Brown, D., Chapman, C., Dyer, R. G., Hollingsworth, S., Shibuki, K., Yates, J. O. and Way, S. 1988. Endogenous opioid actions and effects of environmental disturbance on parturition and oxytocin secretion in rats. Journal of Reproduction and Fertility 84:345–356.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lévy, F., Guevara-Guzman, R., Hinton, M. R., Kendrick, K. M. and Keverne, E. B. 1993. Effects of parturition and maternal experience on noradrenaline and acetylcholine release in the olfactory bulb of sheep. Behavioral Neuroscience 107: 662–668.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lévy, F. and Poindron, P. 1987. The importance of amniotic fluids for the establishment of maternal behaviour in experienced and inexperienced ewes. Animal Behaviour 35: 1188–1192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McNeilly, A. S. and Andrews, P. 1974. Purification and characterization of caprine prolactin. Journal of Endocrinology 60: 359–367.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McNeilly, A. S. and Fraser, H. M. 1987. Effect of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone against induced suppression of LH and FSH on follicle growth and corpus luteum function in the ewe. Journal of Endocrinology 115: 273–282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mann, G. E., Lamming, G. E. and Fray, M. D. 1995. Plasma estradiol and progesterone during early pregnancy in the cow and the effects of treatment with buserelin. Animal Reproduction Science 37:121–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Niezgoda, J., Bobek, S., Wronskafortuna, D. and Wierzchos, E. 1993. Response of sympathoadrenal axis and adrenal cortex to short-term restraint stress in sheep. Journal of Veterinary Medicine, Series A 40: 631–638.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Connor, C. E., Lawrence, A. B. and Wood-Gush, D. G. M. 1992. Influence of litter size and parity on maternal behaviour at parturition in Scottish Blackface sheep. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 33:345–355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poindron, P., Raksanyi, I., Orgeur, P. and Le Neindre, P. 1984. [Comparison of maternal behaviour at parturition in primiparous or multiparous ewes of Ile-de France, Prealpes-du-Sud and Romanov breeds.] Génetique, Sélection, Evolution 16: 503–522.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Price, E. O., Dunbar, M. and Dally, M. R. 1984a. Behaviour of ewes and lambs subjected to restraint fostering. Journal of Animal Science 58:1084–1089.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Price, E. O., Dunn, G. C., Talbot, J. A. and Dally, M. R. 1984b. Fostering lambs by odor transfer—the substitution experiment. Journal of Animal Science 59: 301–307.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed