Use of birth fluids and XXXX in lamb fostering.

@entity3799 @entity742
Jackets soaked in birth fluids (BF) and @entity3799 ( @entity3799 ) were used in a 2 X 2 factorial arrangement of treatments to determine their usefulness in fostering @entity742 . Subjects were 39, 3-d-old to 14-d-old @entity742 to be adopted by 39, 2-d to 7-d postpartum ewes rearing their own single @entity742 . Birth fluids were collected by drying newborn @entity742 with cloth jackets. Jackets were frozen for storage and were later thawed and placed on experimental alien @entity742 . Cervical stimulation was applied by attempting to insert a hand into the cervix of the ewe for 5 min immediately before presentation of an alien lamb. Maternal behavior tests, in both the absence and presence of the ewe's own lamb, were conducted twice daily in a small pen for 2.5 d. On d 3 and 4, @entity742 were tested in a large pen with three to four other ewes and their @entity742 . Aggression toward the alien lamb was greater during the first exposure in all treatments. Avoidance and nosing behaviors toward aliens were significantly less, and alien @entity742 were able to suckle more, when the ewe's own lamb was also present. @entity742 receiving BF suckled more and were accepted more often. Cervical stimulation, in the absence of BF, improved acceptance compared with controls. The proportion of ewes accepting alien @entity742 were 100, 80, 60 and 10% for BF, BF- @entity3799 , @entity3799 and control treatments, respectively. Alien @entity742 that were accepted had similar growth rates to weaning as the ewe's own lamb. We conclude that fostering is facilitated by use of jackets soaked in BF and by @entity3799 .
