-The objective of this study was to evaluate the seasonal and daily variation in sexual behavior of Morada Nova breeders raised in the Brazilian semi-arid region. The data were collected from four rams and 114 ewes of the Morada Nova breed -55 females in the dry season and another 59 in the rainy season. Observations were performed in the dry and rainy seasons, divided into four times of the day: morning (05:01 h to 11.00 h), afternoon (11.01 h to 17.00 h), evening (17.01 h to 23:00 h), and dawn (23:01 h to 05.00 h). Sexual behavior was assessed for a period of 24 h/day, in a breeding season. One ram was used each three days. The behavioral patterns of the rams in view of females were observed during the recognition (sniffing the female urine, bouts of anogenital sniffing, and flehmen reaction), preparatory (exposure of tongue and penis, leg-kicking, and low-pitched bleats), and copulatory (number of mounts, number of ejaculations, and refractory period) phases. The rams were more active during daytime. The animals in the rainy season showed more efficient sexual behaviors by the lower frequency of mounts per ejaculation and greater number of ejaculations in a shorter time. In contrast, courting behaviors such as exposure of tongue, number of mounts, low-pitched bleats, and leg-kicking were more frequent in the dry season. In the semi-arid region with latitudes close to 7°N, Morada Nova rams have a higher intensity of precopulatory behaviors and lower frequency of ejaculations in the dry season.

The objective was to evaluate the consumption of goat and sheep meat in the municipality of Olho d'Água - Paraíba. A total of 80 questionnaires containing 12 questions about sex, age, civil status, monthly income, schooling, consumption, reasons for not consuming, frequency of consumption, place of purchase, influence on purchase, preference for type of cut and consumption of “buchada” were applied. The results showed that the majority of respondents were female (62,5%), ranging in age from 16 to 30 years (81,25%), monthly income from R$ 260 to 500 (48,75%) and high school complete (37,5%). 62,5% of the interviewees consume goat and sheep, those who do not consume goat/sheep claimed that these meats are greasy (65%), presenting a "rancid". 53% of the interviewees consume sheep and goats weekly. The free market (45,30%) is the main place of purchase The price (45,27%) is the factor that most influences the time of purchase. The cut back (shank) is preferred by the interviewees (39,44%). Regarding “buchada”, 61% of respondents appreciate it while 39% do not like this delicacy. Thus, it can be concluded that goats and sheep are very consumed by the population of Olho d'Água - PB. Incentives should be carried out with the aim of increasing consumption through the dissemination of nutritional quality and the benefit that this product brings to human health.

The aim is to characterize and to compare the black (TBG) and gray (TGG) globe temperatures in the production of sheep in the Brazilian semi-arid, using Santa Inês and Doper breeds, distributed in two thermal environments (exposed to the sun and shaded), containing 10 animals in each picket. The experimental design was completely random, 2 x 2 factorial scheme (shaded environment and sun x black and gray globe) in 46 replicates (evaluation days). There was an increase of the TBG in relation to the TGG during the evaluation times, with maximum temperature (48.1°C) at 1p.m. in the environment exposed to the sun, concomitantly with elevation of the black globe temperature and humidity index-BGHI (96.7). The result was distinct for TGG, with a maximum temperature of 37.6°C and BGHI of 86.2 in the same environment. Regardless of the thermometer used, the BGHI values exceeded the considerable comfortable limit for sheep. Under shaded conditions, the globe temperatures showed similar behavior. In sunny conditions, these temperatures diverged, higher in the black, because of the absorption conditions of the thermal radiation of the different colors.

This study aimed to evaluate the sexual behavior of 'Morada Nova' breeding sheep reared in the Brazilian semi-arid during dry and rainy seasons in a semi-intensive system. The behavioral data were gathered from 4 rams and 114 ewes, among which 55 during the rainy season and the other 59 females in the dry season. The behavioral observations were conducted from 6 am to 5 pm, during both periods. The observations were carried out continuously and split into 'event' (execution frequency) and 'state' (execution time). During the rainy season, the breeding sheep showed the most efficient sexual behavior, with a shorter reaction time (RT) and less frequent mount attempts (MA), being of 122 sec and 2.97, respectively. However, throughout the dry period, some sexual behaviors such as sniffing the urogenital of females (SUF), penis exposure (EXP), head tossing (HT), and courting of females (FC) became more frequent, mainly in the afternoon, as with the flehmen response (FR). Male courting behavior was more evident in the rainy season during the end of the day, remaining less active during the dry period. Sexual behavior intensity in 'Morada Nova' sheep varies throughout the day, especially in the dry season. Key words: Sexual courtship. Ethology. Reproduction. ResumoObjetivou-se a partir desse trabalho avaliar o comportamento sexual de reprodutores ovinos da raça Morada Nova criados no semiárido brasileiro, durante períodos seco e chuvoso, em criação semiintensiva. Os dados comportamentais foram coletados a partir de 4 carneiros frente a114 fêmeas, 55 fêmeas durante período chuvoso e 59 no período seco. As observações foram realizadas para ambos períodos, das 06h00 às 17h00, totalizando 11 horas de avaliação diária. Os comportamentos foram obtidos de forma contínua e classificadas como 'evento' (frequência de execução) e 'estado' (tempo de execução). Durante o período chuvoso, os reprodutores mostraram comportamentos sexuais mais eficientes resultando em menor tempo de reação (TR) e menor frequência de tentativas de monta (NST)

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