Maternal Behavior of Najdi ewes Under Intensive Conditions

The study aimed to evaluate the maternal behavior of Najdi ewes lambing under intensive farming conditions in Saudi Arabia. A total of 242 lambings were monitored and litter size (LS), dystocia, parturition length (PL), maternal behavior measured as lamb acceptance and licking (LD, licking delay; LL, licking length), and concurrent parturitions in the same pen, were recorded. Najdi ewes showed moderate LS (1.31 lambs/ewe), which increased according to parity. Despite being considered as a poor motherhood sheep breed, low dystocia (4.5%), fast and easy parturition (28.5 min) were observed in Najdi ewes in our study. The ewes take good care of their lambs, licking them early (LD, 1.2 min) and for enough time (LL, 28.5 min) after parturition. On the contrary, the studied flock showed a high incidence of lamb rejections (20.7%) which increased in primiparous ewes. No effects of LS, season or dystocia were detected on lamb acceptance, but concurrent parturition was identified as the main cause of lamb rejections.