Summary
This study evaluated the effect of maternal deprivation on goats at 18 months of age by comparatively studying goats raised with their dam against those artificially raised (i.e., separated from their dam and raised only with peers). Notably, the goats were mixed together and stayed in the same pen at three months of age. The two categories of goats showed only a few differences in their social behavior and responses to stressors; however, when introduced to a lactating herd, artificially raised goats faced more threats from multiparous (i.e., having birthed more than one kid) goats, while goats raised by dams showed more aggression. Additionally, artificially raised goats showed less fear to familiar and unfamiliar humans compared to goats raised by their dams. Ultimately, maternal deprivation has long-lasting effects in the lives of the goats and is important in their development. A strength of this study is the diversity of behavioral measurements used. A limitation noted by the authors is that the effects of the two rearing conditions might have been reduced given the goats were mixed together after three months and they could have learned behaviors from each other.
Early maternal deprivation has been shown to disrupt goat kids’ social behaviour and stress-coping strategy, and has long-term effects in other species like cattle. We studied the long-term effects of early maternal deprivation on 18-month-old goats. Seventeen goats were raised together with their dams (DR kids) and other lactating goats and kids, while 18 goats were separated from their dams three days after birth and artificially reared together (AR kids). Kids of both treatments were weaned around two to three months of age, grouped and raised together until this study 15 months later. Affiliative, playful, and agonistic behaviour was recorded by focal sampling in the home pen, when the focal goat had rejoined the herd after being physically isolated for 3 minutes, and after the focal goat was restrained and manipulated for 3 minutes. Behavioural observations were also conducted after the goats were introduced in groups of four in a herd of 77 unknown, lactating multiparous goats. Avoidance distance tests were performed in the home pen to assess the human-animal relationship. Salivary cortisol was measured before and after physical isolation, and faecal glucocorticoid metabolites were measured before and 24 hours after introduction in the lactating herd. In the home pen, AR goats were involved in less head nudging than DR goats, but other social behaviours or their behavioural and physiological response to the various stressful situations were not affected by their rearing treatment. Upon introduction in a DR lactating herd, most of the agonistic interactions observed were initiated by multiparous goats towards the introduced AR and DR goats alike. AR goats received more threats from the multiparous goats than DR goats, but were involved in less clashing than DR goats. AR goats showed less avoidance of familiar and unfamiliar humans than DR goats. Overall, previously AR and DR goats showed only a few differences in affiliative and agonistic behaviours in their home pen or after being exposed to different stressors 15 months later. Nonetheless, after being introduced into a multiparous goat herd, AR goats were still threatened more often than DR goats, and DR goats clashed more than AR goats, suggesting some persistent differences in their social abilities observed at an early age before and after weaning. As predicted, AR goats remained less fearful of humans than DR goats.