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MSU ANS 110 - Behavior and Welfare - ANS 110 - 2002B

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Studying Animal BehaviorPowerPoint PresentationSlide 3Slide 4Slide 5Slide 6Slide 7Slide 8Slide 9Slide 10Slide 11Slide 12Slide 13Slide 14Slide 15Slide 16Slide 17Slide 18Beef calvesPigsChickensSlide 221Studying Animal BehaviorStudying Animal BehaviorCamie HeleskiDepartment of Animal Science2In order to better understand animals, we need to carefully study their behavior.The study of animal behavior is referred to as ethology.–“pure” behaviorists, such as in zoology, tend to study animals in their native state; e.g. mate selection in bird species or foraging strategies in antelope species–“applied” ethologists tend to study the domestic species, or exotics kept in captivity and might examine how housing influences behavior, or what behaviors represent an animal experiencing pain3Ethogram - the complete description of behaviors shown by an animal.Time Budget - how the animal divides up its day into component behaviors.–resting–eating–locomotion, etc.A good stockperson knows these features even if they don’t know the official names4Analyzing the evolutionary ecology of the animal can tell us a great deal about the animal’s behavior.For example, the horse evolved as a creature of prey and has a tremendously strong flight response. It also evolved on the great plains where running first and “asking questions” later was very effective. Donkeys evolved in mountainous terrain and rarely run in panic.5An animal’s behavior tends to adapt to its physiology (or visa versa).For example, the wild Przewalski’s horse can survive in regions that cannot sustain ruminant animals.Though ruminants are more efficient than horses in extracting usable energy per given weight of food , there is a limit to how much poor quality feed a ruminant can move through its system per 24 hr.6Horses lie down less than most ruminants (about 5-8% in most studies).Energy expenditure in horses is about 10% less when standing/ resting than when lying down. By contrast, sheep & cattle use 10% more energy standing than lying.7The domesticated species have a greater range of acceptable management that suits their behaviors. The horse, cow, chicken, sheep & pig are very adaptable and many years ago, made a “decision” to form an alliance with man, while many of their counterparts became extinct.8Herd animals (like horses) and pack animals (like dogs) are easier to “dominate” and train because of their desire to keep harmony in the group. If the trainer learns to read their body language, it is a fairly easy process. (Some say they bond with us for lack of better company .)More solitary animals (such as cats) have much less desire to keep the peace of a pecking order.9Play behavior...primarily in juvenile animalssupposedly preparatory for life skillssome species (e.g. dog) seem to be in arrested developmentWhat does it mean when we do not observe play behavior in juveniles?10Important to understand the senses of the animal you work withFor example, vision in horses is mainly monocular, but field of vision is very large–about 65 degrees binocular in front–about 150 degrees monocular on each side–about 3-5 degrees blind spot directly behind–has direct application to safely working with them11Most animals have much better senses of smell and hearing than we do.Again has implications for safely working with them. Sometimes we have to anticipate what they will find frightening.Dr. Temple Grandin, CSU, has done a great deal of work in slaughter houses trying to put herself in the animal’s place to minimize fear and distress.12They used to say most of our domestic animals were color blind, we now realize through various research projects that their color vision is not as keen as ours, perhaps, but is definitely more than black and white–e.g. horses discriminating different colors for food rewards–dairy cattle discriminating different color uniforms for type of treatment13Back to some specific studies...Ethogram of weanling horses...–lying down sternally–lying down recumbent–standing, dozing–standing alert–eating hay or grain–grazing–drinking14–defecating–urinating–investigating–friendly social interaction–aggressive social interaction–mutual fly swatting–mutual grooming (has actual HR effect)–rolling–scratching–playing with an object–aberrant behavior: pawing, biting wall, licking wall, bucking/rearing15Stalled weanlings laid down much more than paddock-reared weanlings (about 20% compared to about 5%). This correlated with a decrease in bone density in the stalled weanlings. (probably due to less loading on their legs)16Paddock reared weanlings spent about 18% of their day grazing (even when hardly anything worth eating); they spent about 4% of their day in social encounters (such as mutual grooming) and spent more time moving around. Stalled weanlings looked better from the standpoint of showring standards, and didn’t care when they were separated from horses stalled next to them (which made them a bit easier to handle).17Another MSU study looked at 2 year olds kept in stalls or out at pasture and compared ease of “breaking out.” The pastured horses took shorter times to accept the saddle and the rider and were less fractious during the ride. Was this because the more enriched environment enhanced the learning pathways or because the pastured horses “burnt” off more energy prior to being ridden each day?18This past summer we looked at weanlings and collected blood and saliva to determine if saliva could replace blood for analyzing cortisol levels. Heart rates related to level of distress they displayed during the restraint and collection procedure. An anesthetic cream was found to make significant differences on their perception of pain/pressure during the bleeding process. (Data still being analyzed but looks promising.)19Beef calvesBeef calvesA study by Haley & Stookey (Saskatchewan) found that beef calves initially treated with Kant-Suk nose plates vocalized 84% less than controls, walked 79% less, spent 24% more time eating dry food and consequently showed less post-weaning weight loss20PigsPigsMany studies (Mendl et al., Zanella et al., Lawrence et al.) have examined nest-building frustration pre-parturition in giltsThey show an increase in plasma cortisol and ACTH if compared to gilts in larger, straw-bedded


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