Sexual Arousal and Mating Behavior in Farm Animals

Sexual arousal and mating behavior in animals refer to the physiological and behavioral processes that lead to the partner’s readiness to mate.

Sexual Arousal

Among all stimuli, visual stimuli play a significant role in sexual arousal. Courtship behaviors typically culminate in lordosis, an immobile stance, or willingness to mate, all of which contribute to heightened sexual arousal in male animals.

Once the male identifies that the female is displaying lordosis, it intensifies his sexual stimulation.

The following are the characteristics of sexual arousal in farm animals:

Erection

The penile erection requires a series of neural and vasomotor reactions. Erection is characterized by the marked increase in rigidity of the penis. The rigidity is due to elevated arterial blood flow, dilatation of corporal sinusoids, restricted venous outflow, elevated intra penile pressure and relaxation of the retractor penis muscle.

The penis of the bull, ram and boar is fibroelastic in nature and is having sigmoid flexure. Therefore during erection in these species the diameter will not increase much.

In stallions, the penis is vascular in nature and it is not having sigmoid flexure. So there is significant enlargement in size of the penis occurs in this species.

The erection is predominantly under the control of parasympathetic nervous system. The reflex stimulation of the testis, urethra, prostate and glanspenis cause erection.

Penile Protrusion

The erection will leads to the separation of the glans penis from the prepuce. During this period, the dribbling of the secretions of Cowper’s gland is noticed in bulls. The male will keep its chin on the receptive female and the female will stand quietly to allow the male to mount.