Abstract: The bedding preferences of ponies were determined using video recordings of nighttime (1900 to 0700) behavior of individually housed ponies. The ponies' behavior each minute was recorded to determine time budgets. In Exp. I, preference for bedding was determined using three mares, three stallions and two geldings given access to bedded and unbedded areas in a box stall. The ponies spent more time (66%) on the bedded area and were never observed lying on the unbedded areas. In Exp. II, three mares and six stallions were given access to a box stall, one side of which was bedded with wood shavings and the other with straw. Although some individual animals preferred one bedding over the other, neither form of bedding was preferred consistently. Time budgets in Exp. II were similar on both bedding materials. The ponies spent 12% of their nighttime lying, 2% walking, 35% eating and 50% standing inactively. Some ponies had a relatively strong preference for bedding, but the type of bedding preferred varied with the individual animal. Some individual ponies had no clear preference, but instead had a side or position preference

Abstract: Factors determining the digestive efficiency of donkeys were studied in animals fed either a low quality roughage (wheat straw: 77{middle dot}1% neutral detergent fibre, 2{middle dot}8% crude protein) or a high quality forage (alfalfa hay: 47{middle dot}5% neutral detergent fibre, 22{middle dot}7% crude protein). The neutral detergent fibre (NDF) intake when fed wheat straw was 1693 {+/-} 268 g animal-1 day-1, 10% higher than when fed alfalfa hay. Digestive coefficient of NDF and acid detergent fibre (ADF) when fed wheat straw amounted to 50{middle dot}9 {+/-} 4{middle dot}9 and 42{middle dot}0 {+/-} 4{middle dot}1% respectively. NDF and ADF apparent digestibilities and mean retention times (37{middle dot}7 {+/-} 1{middle dot}7 and 36{middle dot}4 {+/-} 3{middle dot}2 h respectively) were not significantly different (P [rang] 0{middle dot}05) between the two diets. The donkey appears to digest cell wall constituents as efficiently as the Bedouin goat when on low quality roughage, but less efficiently when fed alfalfa hay. Its energy digestibility is, however, as high as that reported for the Bedouin goat. The donkey's high energy digestibility is related to its capacity to digest soluble food components more efficiently than the ruminant. The mean retention time in the donkey is shorter than in the Bedouin goat and is consistent with its capacity to compensate for a lower quality diet by increasing its intake rate. Recycling of urea in donkeys maintained on wheat straw amounted to 75{middle dot}5 {+/-} 13{middle dot}0% of the entry rate. A decrease in the rate of renal urea filtration, coupled with an increase in the fraction reabsorbed, increased the retention of nitrogenous waste and permitted recycling of nitrogen into the gut. N1 -

Abstract: The effect of group was studied on cattle being attacked by horse flies of three genera. The method of simultaneous registrations of attacking horse flies in herds of 8 to 100 animals and on single cows was used. It has been shown that the effect of group reveals itself only when animals in the herd reach a certain minimum number, the effect rate depending on peculiarities of attacking of a given species of bloodsuckers, such as a part of responding individuals, distance of an attack, duration of contact with an object. These parameters tend to change with increasing number of animals in the herd. Therefore differences in the intensity of attacks on herds with different cattle stock cannot be explained proceeding only from differences in the occupied areas. The number of attacking horse flies decreases from the periphery of the herd to its centre and is not the same in different parts of the periphery. The effectiveness of attacking, ie the part of sucking individuals of a given species (genus) from the number of horse flies attacking for a definite period of time, is the highest in a large herd and increases in its ranges from the periphery to the centre. This dependence leads to a more even distribution of sucking individuals as compared to attacking ones.

Abstract: The social behaviour of two groups of Merino ewes and one group of Merino x Border Leicester ewes was studied. Each group comprised eight sheep, 15 months of age and, within each group, the animals were of similar liveweight. Dominance rankings were established at each test, but there was little consistency in ewe rank over time. Similarly, little consistency was found in ewe ranking for movement order between pens, and for exploratory and fear test rankings. However, with tests on movement orders, some consistency in the sheep which ranked first was shown. In the field, no aggression was seen while sheep were grazing and there were no occasions when ranking related to movement could be observed. There were short-term associations between pairs of sheep, but these occurred in less than half the individuals. Although the spatial distribution was not studied, the lack of long-term association between pairs would suggest that strong spatial preference does not occur. It is concluded that the social organization of single-age Merino and Merino x Border Leicester ewes is not based on dominance or leadership ranking nor on long-term associations between individuals.