SANTOS, R. P.; http://lattes.cnpq.br/2912220307367662; SANTOS, Romário Parente dos.
Resumo:
In the Northeast region, sheep farming plays an important and fundamental role in the
development of the region, further strengthening sheep farming, which is a traditional and
remarkable activity not only in this region, but also in the entire national region.
Reproductive efficiency is one of the main pillars for the success of sheep farming, being
responsible for the population growth of the herd, for the propagation of genes of
zootechnical interest and increasingly skillful responses on the part of the animals.
Obtaining all information about reproductive performance, as well as knowing the actions
inherent to the sexual behavior of the sheep, are extremely important factors for obtaining
good zootechnical indexes and the very increase in the reproductive efficiency of a given
herd. In reproduction, the reproductive behavior of children and males plays an important
role, affecting both the success of mating and the survival of the role. Therefore,
knowledge of the behavior patterns of the breeds is necessary to define a management
model more appropriate to their exploitation. In this sense, objective was to evaluate the
performance and reproductive behavior of ovines without wool. The work was carried out
at the Experimental Station Benjamin Maranhão (6 ° S, 35 ° W, 188 m altitude). 35 Dorper
females, 35 Santa Inês females and 6 adult breeders were used, 3 for each genotype, all
with previous sexual experience. Reproductive performance was assessed using
zootechnical indexes. Behavioral records were performed from 07:00 to 10:00 h and from
14:00 to 17:00 h, using focal animal sampling. The averages of the sum of the score of
the variables in each treatment were compared using the Friedman's chisquare
test. The
reproductive indices were expressed as a percentage, through descriptive analysis.
There was a pregnancy rate of 97.1 and 85.7% for the Dorper and Santa Inês ewes, and
the opposite for the fertility rate at birth of 85.2 and 96.7% for the Santa Inês and Dorper
ewes, respectively. The sexual behaviors most evidenced by the animals of the Santa
Inês genotype were: sniffing the female's urogenital region, Flehmen's reflex, urinating,
sniffing urine, vocalization, tongue exposure, courting with paws, heading, chasing and
riding for the reproductive sexual conduct, and Flehmen's reflex, swinging the tail, lifting
the tail and accepting breeding with the breeding behavior of females, these behavioral
behaviors differed statistically (P <0.05) depending on the genetic group. Females and
Santa Inês breeders showed greater sexual activity in relation to the Dorper group. In
conclusion, the animals of the Santa Inês breed showed greater sexual activity in relation
to the animals of the Dorper herd, being evidenced by the expressiveness of the
behavioral behaviors of this genotype during the natural breeding regime. Despite the
genotype Santa Inês is more sexually active than the Dorper herd, they had similar
reproductive performance. In addition to high zootechnical indexes in both genotypes.