Behavioural and morphological attributes of oestrus in West African dwarf does under different physiological states

摘要

Thebehaviouralandmorphologicalchangesassociatedwithoestruswerestudiedin28WestAfricanDwarfdoesgroupedinto3paritygroupsorundernaturalorsynchronisedcycleinthehumidtropicalclimateofIle-Ife,Nigeria.BehaviouralchangeswhichwerediagnosticofoestrusintheWADdoesincludestandingtobemountedbybuck,Lordosisposture,tailwagging,keeninterestinthemaleandslightswellingandreddeningofthevulvalips.Thesechangeswerenotaffected(P0.05)bytheanimals'parity,timeofthedaythatoestrusoccurredorwhetheroestruswashormonallysynchronisedornot.Otherbehavioursthatwerelessfrequentlyexhibitedareincreasedvocalisation(bleating),homosexuality,vulvamucusdischargeandaggression.Thescoringoftheseattributesindicatedthatthesexualdesirability(Libido)ofthedoescouldbemeasuredandselectedfor.