Abstract
Although neonatal farm animals are frequently subjected to painful management procedures,
the role of maternal behaviour in pain coping, has not been much studied. We investigated
whether ewes were able to distinguish between lambs in pain and those that were
not, and whether their behaviour altered depending on the severity of lamb pain. Eighty
male lambs were allocated to one of 4 pain treatments within 24 hours of birth. Lambs were
either handled only (C), bilaterally castrated with tight rubber rings (RR), as for RR but with
the application of a Burdizzo clamp immediately proximal to the ring (Combined) or subjected
to short scrotum castration (SSC) where the testicles were retained within the abdomen
and only the scrotum removed. The behaviour of the ewe, treated lamb and untreated
sibling where present (n = 54) were recorded for 30 minutes after treatment. Castration
treatment increased the expression of abnormal standing and lying postures, specific painrelated
behaviours (head-turning, stamping/kicking, easing quarters, tail wagging) and composite
pain scores (P<0.001 for all). The greatest expression of pain-related behaviours
was shown by lambs in the RR group, which were the only group to show rolling responses
indicative of severe pain, followed by the SSC group. Ewes expressed more licking/sniffing
responses to the RR and SSC lambs than towards the Combined and C lambs (P<0.05),
and oriented most to RR lambs and least to C lambs (P<0.001). Ewes with two lambs also
directed more attention towards the treated than the untreated lamb (P<0.001). The quantity
of maternal care directed towards the lamb was positively correlated with the expression of
active pain behaviours. The data demonstrate that ewes are able to discriminate between
lambs in pain and those that are not, and that their response is increased with a greater
severity of pain.
Original language | English |
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Article number | e0134024 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | PLoS ONE |
Volume | 10 |
Issue number | 7 |
Early online date | 28 Jul 2015 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | First published - 28 Jul 2015 |
Bibliographical note
1023365Keywords
- Abdominal pain
- Behaviour
- Castration
- Pain sensation
- Rubber
- Sheep
- Twins
- Walking