Table 2.
Behaviours (mean ± sem) toward the alien or the mother’s lambs during a selectivity test carried out approximately two hours after lambing, in multiparous (n = 12) or primiparous (n = 9) ewes.
| Behaviours | Multiparous | Primiparous | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Own | Alien | Own | Alien | |
| Number of low-pitched bleats | 8.2 ± 1.6a | 4.2 ± 1.2a | 10.5 ± 3.0a | 2.2 ± 0.8b |
| Number of high-pitched bleats | 4.5 ± 2.8a | 17.7 ± 5.2a | 2.9 ± 1.0a | 20.8 ± 3.7b |
| Time near the udder (s) | 37.2 ± 12.7a | 19.7 ± 14.0a | 27.7 ± 10.3a | 4.9 ± 2.3b |
| Number of udder rejection | 0.6 ± 0.5a | 2.3 ± 0.7b | 0.1 ± 0.1a | 1.0 ± 0.3b |
| Number of udder acceptance | 1.7 ± 0.5x | 0.4 ± 0.2y | 1.7 ± 0.5x | 0.4 ± 0.2y |
| Number of agressive behaviours | 0.08 ± 0.08a | 3.4 ± 1.2b | 0.0 ± 0.0a | 1.0 ± 0.3b |
Means within the same row bearing different letters (a and b) differ significantly (P ≤ 0.04) or tented to differ (x and y; 0.07 ≤ p ≤ 0.1).