Behavioural interactions between West African dwarf nanny goats and their single-born kids during the first 48 hours post-partum

West African dwarf nanny goats and their single-born kids were tested to fi nd out their behavioural response to separation and their mutual recognitio n during the first 48 h post-partum. The tests were conducted at 18, 24, 36 or 48 h post partum, Chi-square analyses were used to determine whether ag e, sex and birth weight of kids as well as h partum and parity of dams had an effect on post-partum bahaviours. In a preliminary study where the kids were not prevented from sucking prior to the tests, the majority of kids (93 %) and does (86%) exhibited apparan t minimal concern to separation (i.e., had scores of less than 3) and also failed to seek each other. When the kids were prevented from sucking 2 h pr ior to the tests, the couple showed some response to separation and made at tempts to seek each other. This suggests that in goats the state of the neo nate's nourishment and the fullness of the dam's udder may be important fac tors that determine the willingness of the kid and the dam to seek each oth er when separated. The behavioural response of 48-h-old kids to separation from their darns when they had not sucked for 2 h was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than that of 18-h-old kids. The sex and birth-weight of 48-h-old kids did not affect their response to separation from their dams. Hours po st-partum and parity of does did not affect their response to separation fr om their kids even though the proportion of does exhibiting the highest res ponse was much higher in primiparous then multiparous animals (44% vs, 13%) . Recognition of dams by kids was poor at 18 and 24 h with more than half ( 71%) the kids failing to recognize their darns. Dam recognition ability imp roved with age and at 48 h the majority of kids (88%) were able to recogniz e their dams. Does tested at 48 h post partum had better (P > 0.05) kid rec ognition than those tested at 18 and 24 h. The sex and birth weight of kids and the parity of dams had no effect on the mutual recognition of kids and their darns at 48 h post-partum. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.