Effect of proximity to females on integument damage caused by self-enurination in male goats.

In male goats, self-enurination (SE) is the downward turning of the head and shoulders while urinating onto the face and front legs. Although it provides important chemical cues to females, other males, and even self, it is a costly behavior that can create a range of problems including erythema, irritation, hair loss, and compromised skin. It was hypothesized that the extent of integument damage from SE on bucks' faces and front legs would be increased by housing bucks near females.

Differential effects of androgens, estrogens and socio-sexual context on sexual behaviors in the castrated male goat.

The behavioral and endocrine activation of sexual behaviors exhibited by male goats, especially self-enurination (SE), is poorly understood. In the first experiment, to assess the influence of socio-sexual context on SE in bucks, the effects of distance from does, the presence of estrous versus non-estrous does and the presence of another buck on SE and courtship frequencies of intact male goats (bucks; n = 12) were tested using a unique behavior test apparatus. For experiments 2 and 3, to test the relative contributions of sex steroid hormones and socio-sexual context on SE, castrated male goats (wethers; n = 20) were randomly divided into five groups and injected for seven weeks with one of the following: 25 mg testosterone propionate (T), 25 mg dihydrotestosterone propionate (DHT), 100 μg estradiol benzoate (E), 100 μg E and 25 mg DHT (E + DHT), or oil (CON).

Seasonal variation of urinary microRNA expression in male goats (Capra hircus) as assessed by next generation sequencing.

Testosterone plays a key role in preparation of a male domesticated goat (Capra hircus) to breeding season including changes in the urogenital tract of a male goat (buck). microRNAs are important regulators of cellular metabolism, differentiation and function. They are powerful intermediaries of hormonal activity in the body, including the urogenital tract.

Female goats use courtship display as an honest indicator of male quality.

Due to the differential cost of reproduction in promiscuous species, like domesticated goat(s) (Capra hircus), it is expected that females should mate with higher quality males, while males should mate with a greater number of females. Females may use conspicuous secondary sexual characteristics of males such as courtship display to distinguish among high and low quality males. Testosterone (T) controls a large suite of secondary sexual characteristics and variation in T concentrations may account of differences in courtship rates.

Female tail wagging enhances sexual performance in male goats.

Preference testing has shown that sexually experienced male goats choose females that are tail wagging, a behavior that may function as both attractivity and proceptivity, over those that are not. We hypothesized that exposure to females expressing high rates of tail wagging would arouse males, increasing sexual performance. Tail wagging rate could be manipulated because we have shown previously that flutamide treatment increases the frequency of tail wagging in estrous goats.

Estrous female goats use testosterone-dependent cues to assess mates.

In a promiscuous species like the domestic goat (Capra hircus), in which maternal investment is greater than paternal investment, a female may mate selectively with a more-fit male to improve her reproductive fitness. Testosterone (T) controls a large suite of male-typical behaviors and morphological characteristics. High T concentrations may be energetically costly or even detrimental to survival; thus, preventing lower quality males from falsely advertising their fitness.

Partner preference: assessing the role of the female goat.

For domestic ruminants, the male is thought to have the control over mate choice. The aim of this study was to assess the potential role the female goat plays in choosing a sexual partner. Approach frequency and proximity time to various social or sexual stimuli in a Y-maze apparatus were used as partner preference assessment parameters.

Variation in male sexual behavior.

Relaxation of natural selection on sexual performance traits in male ruminants has increased phenotypic variation in these heritable traits. Thus, males with sub-standard sexual performance continue to reproduce. This has created a "dud" phenomenon that is costly to animal agriculture.

Sexual behavior of domesticated ruminants.

Domesticated ruminants have lived in close association with humans for thousands of years and knowledge of the behavior of these organisms has contributed to their successful domestication, as well as to the management of animals in captivity, both extensive and intensive. Here we describe the reproductive behavioral endocrinology of cattle, goats and sheep. These relatively large and tame animals provide opportunities to conduct a wide range of behavioral studies from short-term to longitudinal or developmental in nature.

Female-female mounting among goats stimulates sexual performance in males.

The hypothesis that female-female mounting is proceptivity in goats, in that male goats are aroused by the visual cues of this mounting behavior, was tested. Once a week, male goats were randomly selected and placed in a test pen in which they were allowed to observe one of six selected social or sexual stimulus conditions. The stimulus conditions were one familiar male with two estrous females (MEE); three estrous females that displayed female-female mounting (E(m)); three estrous females that did not mount (E(nm)); three non-estrous females (N(E)); three familiar males (M); and no animals in the pen (Empty).

Divergent roles for estrogens and androgens in the expression of female goat sexual behavior.

We tested the hypothesis that the activation of the androgen receptor (AR) is required for full expression of female goat sexual behavior. Once a week for 6 weeks, ovariectomized (OVX) females were given priming doses of progesterone 72 and 48 h before behavioral observation. Estradiol (E(2); 100 microg), testosterone (T; 100 mg), or sesame oil was supplied 14 h before behavioral testing.