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Genotype rather than non-genetic behavioural transmission determines the temperament of Merino lambs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

S Bickell ,
P Poindron ,
R Nowak ,
A Chadwick ,
D Ferguson  and
D Blache
S Bickell
Affiliation:
School of Animal Biology, Faculty of Natural & Agricultural Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
P Poindron
Affiliation:
Equipe Comportement, Neurobiologie, Université François Rabelais, Nouzilly, France
R Nowak
Affiliation:
Equipe Comportement, Neurobiologie, Université François Rabelais, Nouzilly, France
A Chadwick
Affiliation:
School of Animal Biology, Faculty of Natural & Agricultural Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
D Ferguson
Affiliation:
CSIRO Livestock Industries, Livestock Welfare, Locked Bag 1 Armidale, NSW 2350, Australia
D Blache*
Affiliation:
School of Animal Biology, Faculty of Natural & Agricultural Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: dbla@animals.uwa.edu.au
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Abstract

Merino ewes have been selected, over 18 generations, for calm (C) or nervous (N) temperament using using an arena test and an isolation box test. We investigated the relative contributions of genotype versus the post-partum behaviour of the dam on the temperament of the lambs using a cross-fostering procedure. Forty-eight multiparous calm and 52 nervous ewes were artificially inseminated with the semen of a sire of the same temperament. At birth, 32 lambs of a given temperament line were cross fostered to ewes from the other line (16 N × C, 16 C × N), 34 lambs were cross fostered to ewes from the same line (15 C × C, 19 N × N) and 30 lambs were left with their birth mother (15 C, 15 N), to control for the effect of cross fostering. The temperament of the progeny was assessed at two occasions, one week after birth by measuring locomotor activity during an open-field test and at weaning (16 weeks) by measuring locomotor activity during an arena test and agitation score measured during an isolation box test. There was a genotype effect but no maternal or fostering effect on the lamb temperament at one week. This may be because the maternal behaviour of the foster ewes did not differ considerably between the calm and nervous mothers during adoption or within the first week, post partum. Similarly, at weaning, only a genotype effect was found on the locomotor and agitation score. Therefore, it appears that temperament in Merino sheep is mainly determined by the genetic transmission of the trait across generations rather than behaviours learned from the mother.

Keywords

animal welfaregeneticsmaternal behaviourselectionsheeptemperament
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 18 , Issue 4: Proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on the Assessment of Animal Welfare at Farm and Group Level , November 2009 , pp. 459 - 466
Copyright
© 2009 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

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