Response of Djallonke Lambs to Repeated Separation from Their Dams during the First Week of Lactation: 1. Behavioural Response

Observations were made of the behavioural response of thirty single born Djallonke Lambs to a 9-hour separation on three consecutive days and scored 1-5. A lamb was scored 5 when it was very active and emitted high-pitched bleats, while a least score of 1 was given when it was inactive and showed no disturbance. The effects of day of separation, interval from separation, parity of the dam, sex and birth weight of the lamb on the above mentioned behavioural parameters were determined using the chi-square procedure. A higher (P < 0.05) proportion of Djallonke lambs showed a higher level of disturbance on each of the 3 days of separation than when they were with their respective mothers. All lambs showed less signs of disturbance (Scores 2 and 3) midway through the separation period and when they were with their respective mothers. Generally, a high (P < 0.05) proportion of Djallonke lambs had scores of 4 and 5 immediately after separation (83.3%) and just before arrival of their mothers (60%). None of the lambs exhibited such a behaviour midway through the separation period and when they were with their mothers.