Determining the influence of rearing method on lamb weaning behaviour

Weaned lambs experience changes in feeding and management practices that may influence growth and behaviour. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the change in growth, and behaviour in early weaned lambs subjected to two rearing methods (natural and artificial) prior to weaning. The experiment was conducted with 24 lambs of the Assaf breed, divided into two groups (12 animals per group). The control group was reared naturally with their mothers until weaning (NR), while the lambs in the other group were reared artificially (AR) with milk replacer. After weaning, the AR lambs grew faster, allowing them to approximate the body weight of the NR lambs. On the first day after weaning, the NR lambs spent less than 1% of their time consuming concentrate and less than 2.5% of their time consuming alfalfa hay, resulting in 34.4% fewer feeding attempts than the AR lambs (p < 0.01). During the trial period, the NR lambs spent more time standing and moving (p < 0.05), and less time lying down, playing (p < 0.05) and feeding, compared to the AR lambs. This shows that the method of rearing before weaning has a significant influence on the behaviour. This warrants further research into factors influencing behaviour and its control in early weaned lambs.