Adoption, allonursing and allosucking in farmed red deer (Cervus elaphus)

Following a pilot study, the aim of this study c was to test the hypothesis whether occurrence of massaging tile anogenital region of a calf by a non- maternal kind is a reliable indicator of adoption. adoption. Tire investiga tion tons conducted between 28 May (1st day of calving) and 2 September (ab rupt weaning of all calves) on a red deer farm at Vimperk, Czech Republic. Fifty hinds and their calves were observed bur only complete data sets of s ucking bouts were considered for evaluation. Massaging occurred mostly duri ng the ist month of the calf's life. All filial calves were massaged repeat edly. Other calves received ano-genital massage at least twice (termed adop ted), on a single occasion or nor at all (termed non-filial). Filial and ad opted calves behaved in a similar way but differently from non-filial calve s, They sucked in an antiparallel standing position so that the hind could lick their ano-genital region more often than the non-filial calves. This o ccurred even when two calves were involved in rile bout. When two colors we re involved in the sucking bout, non-filial calves sucked from behind, betw een the hind's hind legs. This position occurred more frequently with non-f ilial than among the filial and adopted calves. It was therefore concluded, that repeated allonursing accompanied with massaging of the ano-genital re gion of the sucking calf by the hind can be considered a signal of adoption . Hinds usually adopted calves older than their own progeny The adopted cal ves were on average 2.5 days old. This suggests that it is most likely the calfs activity which leads to bonding. No reciprocity was found in allosuck ing and/or allonursing. The fact that non-filial calves commonly initiated allosucking from a non-maternal hind during the day when she gave birth app eared crucial for establishing bonding which subsequently led to adoption. Hinds may be bonded with several calves including their own. Therefore, bon ding with a non-filial calf did not principally mean failure in looking aft er their own progeny as shown in other studies.