New-born lambs have limited energy reserves and need a rapid access to colostrum to maintain homeothermy and survive. In addition to energy, colostrum provides immunoglobulins which ensure passive systemic immunity. Therefore, getting early access to the udder is essential for the neonate. The results from the literature reviewed here highlight the importance of the birth site as the location where the mutual bonding between the mother and her young takes place. Attraction to birth fluids by the periparturient ewe leads to intense licking of the lamb. Grooming not only dries, cleans and stimulates the newborn it also facilitates bonding through learning of its individual odour. Ewes having twins should ideally stay on the birth site for at least six hours in order to establish a strong bond with both lambs and favour lambs survival. However, primiparous ewes or ewes having high levels of emotivity are more likely to exhibit poor maternal behaviour. In addition, difficult parturition and weather conditions have an indirect effect on the behaviour of the mother and are other major causes of lamb death. On the lamb's side, rapid access to the udder and early suckling are extremely important. Delayed lactation or insufficient colostrum yield may be fatal especially since suckling has strong rewarding properties in the establishment of a preference for the mother, which in turn increases lamb survival. Insufficient access to the udder in mothers leaving the birth site too soon after parturition, especially in twin-bearing ewes, could also partly account for the high incidence of loss of mother-young contact and subsequent death in such lambs. Strategies to improve neonatal survival should be aimed at maximising lamb vigour, colostrum production, and mutual mother-young bonding through adequate feeding in late pregnancy and selection on behaviour.

/pdf/from-birth-to-colostrum-early-steps-leading-to-lamb-survival-kv4c2etklo.pdf

From birth to colostrum: early steps leading to lamb survival.

Behavioural development in the neonatal lamb: effect of maternal and birth-related factors

Maternal undernutrition in pregnancy results in low birth-weights and impaired postnatal survival in sheep Largely anecdotal evidence suggests that the expression of appropriate maternal and neonate behaviours may also be disrupted by undernutrition In the present study, we investigated the effect of a moderate (35 %) reduction in ewe nutritional intake in pregnancy on the expression of ewe – lamb bonding behaviours in primiparous Scottish Blackface ewes Lowintake (L) ewes had significantly higher plasma progesterone than high-intake (H) ewes from mid-gestation onwards (eg plasma progesterone at 20 weeks (ng/ml): H 15·72, L 22·38, SED 1·80, P,0·001), and a lower oestradiol: progesterone value than H ewes at delivery (H 0·46, L 0·35, SED 0·05, P,0·05) Lamb birth-weight was reduced in the L lambs compared with H lambs (mean body weight (kg): H 3·31, L 3·00, SED 0·14, P, 0·05), but the incidence of malpresentation at delivery was greater in L lambs L ewes spent significantly less time licking their lambs than H ewes after delivery (time grooming in 2 h after birth (%): H 56·12, L 48·17, SED 2·639, P, 0·01) and were more aggressive towards the lambs Lamb behaviours were not directly affected by maternal nutritional treatment, but lamb birth-weight had a significant effect on neonatal developmental progress Low-birth-weight lambs were slower than heavier lambs to stand and sucked less frequently In tests of maternal attachment to the lamb, H ewes received higher scores than L ewes at both 24 h after birth (ewes receiving high scores (%): H 41·3, L 21·4, P, 0·05) and at 3 d postnatal We conclude that even a moderate level of undernutrition impairs the attachment between ewes and lambs by affecting maternal behaviours expressed at birth In addition, the results suggest that levels of nutrition resulting in a decrease in birth weight will affect neonatal lamb behavioural progress Food restriction: Pregnancy: Maternal behaviour: Neonate behaviour

/pdf/ewe-lamb-bonding-behaviours-at-birth-are-affected-by-4gzmwbiump.pdf

Ewe-lamb bonding behaviours at birth are affected by maternal undernutrition in pregnancy

Breed, litter and parity effects on placental weight and placentome number, and consequences for the neonatal behaviour of the lamb.

Sheep are a key source of meat, milk and fibre for the global livestock sector, and an important biomedical model. Global analysis of gene expression across multiple tissues has aided genome annotation and supported functional annotation of mammalian genes. We present a large-scale RNA-Seq dataset representing all the major organ systems from adult sheep and from several juvenile, neonatal and prenatal developmental time points. The Ovis aries reference genome (Oar v3.1) includes 27,504 genes (20,921 protein coding), of which 25,350 (19,921 protein coding) had detectable expression in at least one tissue in the sheep gene expression atlas dataset. Network-based cluster analysis of this dataset grouped genes according to their expression pattern. The principle of 'guilt by association' was used to infer the function of uncharacterised genes from their co-expression with genes of known function. We describe the overall transcriptional signatures present in the sheep gene expression atlas and assign those signatures, where possible, to specific cell populations or pathways. The findings are related to innate immunity by focusing on clusters with an immune signature, and to the advantages of cross-breeding by examining the patterns of genes exhibiting the greatest expression differences between purebred and crossbred animals. This high-resolution gene expression atlas for sheep is, to our knowledge, the largest transcriptomic dataset from any livestock species to date. It provides a resource to improve the annotation of the current reference genome for sheep, presenting a model transcriptome for ruminants and insight into gene, cell and tissue function at multiple developmental stages.

/pdf/a-high-resolution-atlas-of-gene-expression-in-the-domestic-1svm0pq322.pdf

A high resolution atlas of gene expression in the domestic sheep (Ovis aries).

To distinguish between ewe and lamb breed effects on prenatal growth, ease of parturition and early lamb behaviour, an embryo-transfer study was carried out using a hill breed (Scottish Blackface; liveweight: 54.25 +/- 1.03 kg, mean +/- s.e.m.) and a lowland breed (Suffolk; 80.33 +/- 1.52 kg) to obtain the four possible combinations of ewe and lamb. Data were collected from 38 Blackface ewes (18 with Blackface lambs and 20 with Suffolk lambs) and 41 Suffolk ewes (20 with Blackface lambs and 21 with Suffolk lambs); all ewes were given single embryos. Suffolk lambs had a significantly longer gestation than Blackface lambs (1.5 days, P < 0.01), regardless of ewe breed. Suffolk lambs also had a longer labour (20 min, P < 0.05) and were significantly more likely to require birth assistance (17/21, 81% of all assisted deliveries; P < 0.001), as were male lambs (19/21, 90%; P < 0.01). These variables were independent of ewe breed. Blackface lambs were significantly more active than Suffolk lambs in the first 2 h after birth; ewe breed had little effect on lamb behaviour. Blackface lambs stood twice as quickly as Suffolk lambs after birth (13 min v. 24 min; P < 0.001), and were significantly more likely to suckle within the first 2 h after birth (92% v. 66%; P < 0.05). The behavioural retardation of Suffolk lambs may be a consequence of their birth difficulty which increases their likelihood of suffering birth trauma and hypoxia at parturition. Together, these factors may increase the probability of neonatal death in these lambs.

Effect of ewe and lamb genotype on gestation length, lambing ease and neonatal behaviour of lambs

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Effect of ewe and lamb genotype on gestation length, lambing ease and neonatal behaviour of lambs