What companions were preferred by male and female ten-month-old domestic goat kids was studied. Generally, females spent most of their time with their mother, and males spent a large amount of time with mother or sibling but also stayed near agemates, older does, and adult wethers for fair portions of time.
METHODS
Subjects and study site
Data were collected on undisturbed domestic goats (African Pygmy breed) frequenting a 9 m X 9 m barn and adjoining 400 square meter fenced enclosure. The goats are fed nine quarts of herbivore grain and free choice prairie hay. The individuals studied are ten months old. They are three females and four castrated males. The individuals studied were identified as A1, D2, F3, M4, N5, R6, and T7 by appearances, with the latter three being female. The kids were members of an established herd group consisting of sixteen animals--four dams, two older does, and three older wethers. [see DATA-KEY]
Data collection
The closest animal to each subject, if any were present, was recorded every 3 minutes, for a total of 126 consecutive notes each. The closest animal was then classified as mother, sibling, non-sibling age-mates (male or female), non-maternal adult females, or adult male. [see DATA]
RESULTS
All subjects spent the most time with their immediate family (dam or sibling). The female subjects spent an average of 80.86% of the time with this group, while males were with their dam or sibling only an average of 67.46%. The only major deviation from this mean was a male (D2), who had neither a mother nor sibling present, but his 0% was thrown out when calculating.
Obviously, males, since they spent less time with family, spent more time with the other groups. [See Fig. 1 (actual) and Fig. 2 (average)] The Adult Male category was the most differentiating, and the least variable as far as population. Male subjects spent an average of 9.73% of their time with this group, and females 3.73%. The two males (F3, M4) that spent less time than any female with Adult Males both had siblings, while the female (N5) did not.
Perhaps the most interesting results were the preferences of the male kid without a sibling or dam present. His most frequent companions were adult females, or agemate males. When compared, his tendency toward those two groups closely resembles the other subjects’ most frequent association with their mother and sibling. [See Fig. 3]
It had to be taken into account that the population of each group was not the same for each subject. For example, to each male there were three other agemate males, while to each female there were four. In compensation, the percentage of time spent was calculated for each individual--a male that spent 12% with agemate males would, relatively, have spent 4%, while a female with the same total would be demonstrated as 3%. This adjustment should make up for varying probabilities of encountering each companion group.
