Hormonal and social control of sexual behaviour in goats

Abstract

The control of sexual behaviour is a key element in the management of reproduction in domestic species. In most cases, expression of sexual behaviour is controlled by internal factors such as steroid hormones and nutritional state as well as by factors from the physical and social environment. This is the case in goats : testosterone stimulates buck’s sexual behaviour and oestradiol and, to a smaller extent, progesterone stimulate doe’s behaviour. The threshold for these hormonal actions is very similar to what is known in sheep. However in goats, social factors such as exposure to conspecifics and sexual experience are also of special importance.