1. Early Handling Effects on Measures of Tameness in Boer-Cross Kids
ANS 106
Winter 2005

2. Purpose
to determine whether early human handling could increase tameness of dam-reared Boer-cross goat kids.
to determine whether sex has an influence on their response to human interaction.

3. Background Relatively new breed of meat goat (introduced in 1996).
Dam-raised.
Extensively managed with minimum human contact.

4. Minimal human contact leads to…
Fear of humans.
High stress levels during management procedures.
Difficulty handling.
Injuries.
Aggressive behavior.
$$ Loss!

5. How can we decrease production losses?
Increased tameness increases ease of handling.
Tameness may be increased by early handling.

6. Methods & Materials

7. Subjects 19 dam-raised goat kids from 8 Boer-cross dams.
Housed at UCD Goat Barn in 6 x 8ft jugging pens after birth.
Early handling goup: 5males and 5 females.
Control group: 5 males and 4 females.
Identified by temporary white neck collars (kid #, dam # and sex.

8. Materials 4 – 3 x 2m plywood boards Sidewalk chalk Grease chalk
Stopwatch
Digital timer

9. Handling Procedures Handled 15 min, twice daily – 10 total treatments.
Performed by 3 handlers.
Handled in lap and on stool 3 ft outside jugging pen.
Handling included: talking to, petting and scratching.
Occurred within 24hrs after birth.
Kid remained within visual and auditory range of dam.

10. Testing Arena
Kids and dams moved to UCD Cole Facility 2+ days prior to testing.
3 x 5 m test enclosure divided into 5 Areas.

11. Tests & Procedures 3 Tests Performed 2 wk individual 3 wk individual
3 wk family group (dam tied in Area 5)
Seated human test (tester sat immobile & silent in Area 1).
Kids habituated (2 min) and introduced in Area 5.
Activity observed for 5 min.

12. Procedures (con’t)
Observations made 9 m above test area.

13. Measurements of Tameness
Individual kid tests at 2 and 3 wks of age.
Latency to human contact
# of contacts
Time spent in proximity to human
Duration of contacts
Family group test at 3 wks of age.
Latency to human contact.
# of contacts

14. Results Experimental vs. Control at 2 and 3 wk
No significant difference
Within family group at 3 wks

15. Gender differences Experimental males vs Experimental females
No significant difference
Control males vs. Control females
At 2 wks: greater # and duration of contacts in males
At 3 wks: shorter latency in males
Males vs. Females overall
At 2 wks: greater duration of contacts in males

16. Results Significant Results Means and standard deviations of measurements of tameness in control males and females at 2 and 3 wks of age Means and standard deviations of measurements of tameness in males and females overall at 2 and 3 wks of age

17. Discussion
Early handling has no effect on tameness when tested at 2 or 3 weeks of age

18. Reasons Hand-reared vs. Dam-reared
Other studies subjects were hand-reared

19. Other Factors? Novel Environment and Isolation from Pen-mates
Testing as a family group still showed no difference
Did decrease vocalizations during test in all kids

20. Gender Differences Males exhibited more tameness throughout the study
Males within the control group
Males overall
Supported by Bouissou and Vandenheede (1996)
Testosterone found to decrease fear response

21. Conclusion
Positive handling sessions alone, when the kids are dam-reared and housed in large social groups, are not enough to increase tameness.
Further studies are needed to determine if assisting dam-reared kids at nursing would be sufficient to increase tameness.

22. The End