The Effect of Sex, Birthweight and Type of Birth on Neonatal Behaviour of Djallonke Sheep and West African Dwarf Goats

Observations were made on the neonatal behaviour of 127 Djallonke lambs and eighty-seven 87 West African dwarf kids during the first two hours of life. The effects of sex, birthweight and type of birth of the lamb and kid on these behavioural characteristics were analysed using a two-tailed-test. The results of the study on Djallonke lambs revealed that, the newborn lambs took a mean time of 24 minutes to stand up and 35 minutes to successfully suck milk for the first time. The sex of lambs did not influence either the time it took to stand up or to successfully suck milk. Single born and high birthweight lambs stood up and also sucked earlier than twin born and low birth weight lambs. The results of the study on goats showed that kids took a mean time of 14 minutes to stand up and 29 minutes to successfully suck milk for the first time. Though sex did not influence the time kids took to stand up for the first time, high birth weight and single born kids sucked earlier than low birthweight and twin born kids. It was concluded that sex, unlike type of birth or birthweight did not affect the times neonates took to stand up and successfully suck milk for the first time in both species.