A70
Behavior Patterns

Flocking Instinct: Sheep and to a lesser extent goats have a gregarious instinct, which means they like to stay together. The whiteface wool type sheep express a stronger flocking instinct than do the medium wool, meat type breeds. This instinct is a very useful trait in handling sheep on open ranges. When sheep graze, they tend to spread out, but when frightened, all sheep will gather into one group. Because of this flocking instinct, a good producer knows that an animal off by itself is probably ill or has been injured.

Closely related to the flocking instinct is the instinct to follow the leader. There is an old saying "where one sheep goes, all others will follow." This tendency is used in many practical ways. Many ewes and lambs are loaded onto trucks, trailers, across bridges, and moved from one place to another by leading a sheep or goat ahead of them. Some sheep and goats are sometimes trained for the special purpose of leading other sheep or goat bands, and they may do this for many years.

Bedding Down: Sheep and goats like to lie down as night approaches and will cease their feeding during the darkened hours. They generally bed down for the night on a high place that is well drained and provides good visibility of their surroundings.

Drinking: Sheep and goats can exist without water longer than most domesticated animals. This is possibly due to the fact that they experience little water loss through perspiration. The daily water intake of a mature animal will vary from 2 to 4 gallons. Most sheep and goats seem to prefer running water to still water.

Feeding Requirements and Habits: Sheep and goats are ruminants and need bulk in their ration. Most of their diet can be met with feeds such as good quality pasture, range, or harvested forages (hay or silage). They also can consume grains for either supplemental feeding or rapid growth. Small ruminants prefer immature, short forage instead of tall, coarse growing plants. If put in a pasture or range with tall growth, they will nip the ends of the leaves off and leave the stems standing. Because of their close proximity to the ground and the fact that they have very mobile lips and sharp incisor teeth, these animals are built for grazing on short forage.

Protective Ability: Sheep and goats lack the ability to defend themselves. Even those breeds with horns cannot defend themselves from certain predators. All a sheep or goat can do is either run or stand its ground. The chief enemies, particularly of sheep, are coyotes, wolves, bobcats, mountain lions, bears, feral dogs, and domestic dogs. Both ewes and rams will vigorously stomp their forefeet on the ground when attempting to scare away their enemies.

Resistance to Disease: Small ruminants do not often show signs of illness until they are very sick. A good producer should learn to recognize any deviation from the normal health of his/her animals before it is too late. The key to successful disease control is prevention and observation. The following are possible behavior signs of health problems:

1. Isolation: Goats and particularly sheep are strongly influenced by the flocking instinct. An isolated sheep or goat is often showing signs of sickness.
2. Being "off-feed" or disinterest in feed or water: This may indicate any of a number of forms of gastric upset or other illness.
3. Lagging: The last animal through the gate or the barn should be suspected of illness, particularly if that animal is normally one of the first through.
4. Lethargy, depression: An unresponsive animal with head hung low and dull eyes is probably quite ill.
5. Excessive time lying down and reluctance to move: This may indicate fever, mastitis, or other illness that may make it painful for the animal to stand or walk.
6. Restlessness, anxiety: Animals under stress may have difficulty in relaxing.
7. Pica (eating abnormal things): Sheep and goats sometimes eat unusual things, such as wood, dirt, acorns, paint, bones, and wool/hair (from cattle or horse tails). This may indicate a dietary deficiency. For example, iron deficiency can cause dirt eating and phosphorous deficient sheep may eat bones or wood. Pica may also be the result of a behavioral problem. Boredom or stress may cause the animal to eat abnormal things.
8. Vocalization: Bleating is a common method for a lamb/kid to express its needs. Extended or weakened bleating may indicate a problem. Throaty, moaning noises indicate severe stress (hardware disease, trauma due to injury, etc.).
9. Rapid breathing: This may indicate pneumonia or a fever.
10. Changes in feces: Droppings are normally firm and in pellet form. Watery feces and/or droppings with blood indicate a problem.

Psychological and Social Differences: Many social differences exist between breeds of sheep. The graphics below illustrate those breeds that can be classified as strongly gregarious, weakly gregarious, or solitary.