title: Pasture mating behaviour of donkeys (Equus asinus) at natural and induced oestrus.
abstract: The mating behaviour of 2 jacks, each with 21 non-pregnant jennies, was studied when the jennies were in natural oestrus and simultaneously induced oestrus. The main observations were: efficient pasture breeding at natural and induced oestrus, a territorial sociosexual structure, prolonged pre-copulatory interaction, gradual increase of mating activity up to 2 days before ovulation, a copulatory sequence similar to that of horses, vocalization of the jack as a conspicuous behaviour initiating pre-copulatory interaction, frequent heterotypical behaviour of jennies and active involvement of jennies in initiating pre-copulatory interaction.
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Henry
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: McDonnell
authors.forename: L D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Lodi
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Gastal
mesh_terms: D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D001947:Breeding; D003307:Copulation; D004971:Estrus; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D010527:Perissodactyla / Q000523:psychology*; D012661:Semen; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal