The possibility of an outdoor enclosure could present a solution to reduce the agonistic behaviour and improves animal welfare. The goal of this study was to determine if the outdoor enclosure has an influence on the agonistic behaviour in goats. Fifty-five does were recorded three times for 24 hours, where 29 does were housed in a housing system without outdoor enclosure (KON) and 26 in a barn with outdoor enclosure (EKO). Regarding agonistic behaviour, we separately recorded interactions with and without contact. In EKO the reason why a particular doe went to the outdoor enclosure (forced/voluntary) were investigated as well. We found that the sum of attacks/retreats was higher in the KON than in EKO. The location affected the sum of attacks/retreats. In EKO was higher at the feeding rack and elsewhere in the pen, while in KON elsewhere in the pen. There were no differences in the sum of attacks/retreats between EKO and KON at the feeding rack, while elsewhere in the pen were more attacks/retreats in KON than in EKO. The peak of agonistic behaviour occurred between 10:00 a.m. and 11.00 a.m., probably due to feeding with concentrates. The presence of horns at does had no effect on the sum of attacks/retreats. If initiators or recipients were horned does, the probability of interaction with contact was lower. Higher-ranking does attacked more often, while lower-ranking does retreated more often. Where the initiators were does from the rank 1 the probability of interaction with a contact was lower. The probability for forced exit was lower for high-ranking does. The presence of horns had no effect on this. Results are indicating, that outdoor enclosure is important to reduce the agonistic behaviour of goats.
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