Sexual attractivity and receptivity in tailed and docked ewes

Removing a portion of the tail, also known as tail docking, is commonly performed in sheep. However, there is evidence that females of small ruminant species use their tails to communicate in sexual contexts. The objective of this study was to test whether a ewe’s tail status affected the mating behavior of ewes and rams. Within 18 Polypay female twin pairs, one lamb was docked between 24-36 hours of age by placing a constrictive rubber ring on the tail while her sister’s tail was left undocked (n=18 lambs/treatment). The estrous cycles of the ewes were synchronized when they reached 7-8 months of age, and 9 groups of 4 ewes (2 twin pairs/group) were each exposed to a single unfamiliar virgin ram (n=9; 7-8 months of age) for 48 hours. Behavioral interactions were video recorded over the first 2 hours and analyzed to determine the ram’s latency to investigate each ewe’s perineal region and to mount her, the duration of perineal investigation, the number of headbutts and mounting attempts..., , , # Sexual attractivity and receptivity in tailed and docked ewes

This repository contains the data and R scripts used in the experiment described in the paper of the same name. The materials support analyses examining whether a ewe’s tail status (docked or undocked) affected the mating behavior of ewes and rams during a 2-hour mating event.

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## Study Overview

We tested the long-term behavioral effects of neonatal tail docking in ewes by evaluating:

1. **Behavioral interactions** of docked or undocked ewes with a ram during the first 2 hours of a mating period
2. **Real-time location data** of ewes and rams

**Subjects:**
Polypay virgin ewe lambs were randomly assigned to a tail docking treatment:

* Docked using the rubber ring method at 24–36 hours old (n = 18)
* Left undocked (n = 18)

**Observation Schedule:**
The estrous cycles of the ewes were synchronized when they reached 7-8 months of age, and 9 groups of 4 ewes (2 twin pairs/group) were each exposed to a single unfamilia...,