THE TIME OF BIRTH AND THE CHOICE OF BIRTH SITES BY BOOROOLA MERINO EWES AND ANGORA-GOATS

Heterozygous (69) and homozygous (38) Booroola Merino ewes and 82 Ango ra does were observed to determine birth sites, times of birth and cha racteristics of the birth site in 1991. During the second year of obse rvation (1992) the numbers of animals available were reduced to 48 het erozygous and 33 homozygous Booroola Merino ewes and 49 Angora does. T he birth times were randomly distributed over 24 h for heterozygous an d homozygous ewes and were similar for both years. There were no diffe rences between the genotypes of sheep. However, the Angora goats gave birth more frequently during the daylight hours. There was no effect o f the age of does or ewes on choice of birth site and elevation of the paddock did not affect this choice. When paddock features were classi fied into three types of birth sites (open sites, shady areas and area s close to vertical objects), there was no significant difference in t he choice of birth sites by ewes during 1991. However, in 1992, births occurred more frequently in open areas. If shady sites and areas clos e to vertical objects were combined as protected areas, there was no d ifference between the choice of protected or open areas in the 2 years . In 1991 the does chose the protected areas rather than open areas to give birth but this difference was not significant in 1992.