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The social stimulation of oestrus by oestrous females (i.e., the ‘female–female effect’) was investigated in dairy goats under typical pasture-grazing conditions in New Zealand. Five anoestrous does were grouped with either one doe treated with hormones to induce oestrus (n=10 groups), or one doe which received a sham hormone treatment (n=10 groups). The occurrence and frequency of three activities (vocalising, tail wagging and urinating), that reveal an oestrous state when performed frequently, were recorded in each group. Progesterone concentrations in milk and vulval swelling were also measured to determine whether a female–female effect had occurred. No female–female effect occurred in this study. However, vocalisations and tail wagging were accurate oestrus indicators, and vocalisations associated with induced oestrus were socially facilitated within groups. Therefore, group-mates were attentive to changes in the behaviour of oestrous females, which in turn changed their behaviour, but the change did not appear to influence the groups’ reproductive state. |
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