Temperament, behaviour and physiology of sheep trained with tactile stimulation and halter walking

Resumen

This study aimed to evaluate the influence of tactile stimulation and halter walking trainings in the temperament, physiology, behavior and body weight of sheep. A total of 80 sheep, males and females, of the Morada Nova (MN) and Santa Ines (SI) breeds, with initial ages of six to eight months, were trained with tactile stimulation (TS), halter walking (HW) or tactile stimulation and halter walking (TS+HW). The control (C) animals were not submitted to any kind of training. The behavioral aspects were measured by application of a open-field test, to quantify the traits movement, vocalization, escape attempt and digging, and the temperament test, with assignment of a temperament score for each animal. The animals were weighed and rectal temperature, heart rate and respiratory rate were measured. Males were more reactive than females to human. Animals trained with TS were the least reactive in the temperament test, while the most reactive animals were SI male from C and TS+HW treatments. Males of treatments C and HW were the heaviest during the study. The animals in the control group showed higher averages for heart rate and rectal temperature, while animals trained with TS and HW showed the lowest values. Females MN trained with TS and TS+HW moved more during the open-field test, while the SI females of the control group moved less. The SI animals vocalized more during the open-field test, both from treatment C and from TS+HW.  The MN animals from C treatment vocalized less. Sheep trained with tactile stimulation were more docile. The training with tactile stimulation and halter walking in Santa Ines and Morada Nova sheep influenced the heart rate, rectal temperature, moviment, vocalization, escape attempt and body weight.