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‘Flight distance’ in Merino sheep

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

G. D. Hutson
G. D. Hutson
Affiliation:
School of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
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Abstract

The ‘flight distance’ of Merino sheep was examined in three experiments. In experiment 1 a man moved towards flocks of sheep confined at the end of a 2-m wide laneway, and the speed of approach, flock density and flock size were varied. In experiment 2, single sheep were tested and, in experiment 3, the width of the laneway was doubled.

The critical distance at which sheep started moving past the man was proportional to the width of the laneway. In the 2-m wide laneway the flight distance was 5·7 (s.e. 0·3) m compared with 11·4 (s.e. 0·6) m in the 4-m laneway. Flight distance was not affected by flock size, density or speed of approach, except for individual sheep, who had a greater flight distance than flocks, but this was reduced at fast approach speeds.

Analysis of head orientation showed that the proportion of the flock facing towards or away from the handler could be a useful predictor of the flight distance of confined flocks. On the edge of the flight zone approximately half the flock was facing towards the handler and half was facing to either side or away from him.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 35 , Issue 2 , October 1982 , pp. 231 - 235
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1982

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References

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