ANSC 280 1st EditionExam #1 Study GuideTopic 1Animal Behavior- Animals respond to 2 stimuli when being worked/handled: environment and the handlero This is based on what it identifies through: sight, touch, taste, hearing, olfaction (smell), gravitational forces, and the weather- An animal’s aging environment, as well as its heredity, affects its behavior, health, and performance, all of which can change based on its adaptation to its environment- Effects of “evolution” on behavior: development of social hierarchy, mutual grooming, gathering for protection, and following the leader- Selection on behavior examples: beef cattle are chosen based on maternal tendencies; horses are chosen for their temperament and trainabilityo Animals are usually chosen based on the degree of workability with humans; some natural tendencies may not be very suitable for domestic conditions (Noxious, or harmful)o Some changes can be due to genetic selection or manipulation of the environment- Habituation: progressive decrease in the strength of a behavioral response to a continuingstimulus (like animals getting used to aircraft)- Escape: a series of actions that animals use to get out of an area or environment- Spontaneous: a behavior that has no obvious outside stimulus or control- Sensitization: an increase in response to a continuing offensive stimulus- Classical conditioning: a conditioned stimulus paired with an unconditioned stimulus, which causes a reflex- Operant conditioning: learning related to a combination of self-control and some aspect of the environment- Observational learning: learning from other animals- Aversion: learning from negative experience- Abnormal/ aberrant behavior: any variance from normal behavior- Stereotypes: abnormal, intentional, repetitive behavior that isn’t harmful (example: bar biting in swine)- Flight zone: the reactive distance at which an animal will retreat from an approaching intruderTopic 2Sheep Management- Sheep production in Tennessee:o Goals: Provide lambs for FFA and 4-H Freezer lamb Commercial lamb production Wool ANSC 280 1st EditionExam #1 Study Guide- Handling:o Slow, quiet movement, patienceo Discourage jumpingo Avoid crowdingo Use facilities with solid sides- Sheep barns:o Hoop barns: cheap, durable, good for the north (snow doesn’t collect), easy assemblyo Food, shade, and water are the essentials- General health:o Difficult to tell when sheep are sicko Classic prey behavioro Biosecurity is a must for sheep producers to keep disease from entering/ spreadingwithin the flocko Prevention is more cost-effective than treatmento Overcrowdingo Parasites (overcrowding or inadequate nutrition)o Prevention: nutrition, rotate pastures, cull, deworm, stocking densityo FAMACHA:  Regularly checking the mucous membranes around sheep’s’ eyes for paleness associated with anemia Helps identify sheep to cull and/or treat Only for H. contortous worm- Health issues:o Ringwormo Scrapieo Foot roto Sore moutho Copper toxicity- Reproductive managemento Seasonally, polyestrus breederso Breeding season: decreasing daylighto Puberty: 7-12 monthso Estrous cycle: 16 dayso Gestation: 148 days / 5 monthso Estrus: 30-36 hourso July and August: start of breeding season; insures rams and ewes are in adequate body conditiono November and December: prep for lambing seasonTopic 3Genetic Markers- DNAo Made of 2 nucleotide strands linked to form a double helix ANSC 280 1st EditionExam #1 Study Guideo DNA, transcription, RNA, translation, proteino Only one strand of DNA is transcribed- Geneso The fundamental, physical, and functional unit of heredityo A specific sequence of thousands of nucleotides that includes codes for a proteino Promoter: an area where a regulatory protein attaches to encourage transcriptiono Introns: not in mRNA; non-codingo Exons: included in mRNA; often contains coding regions- Genotypeo At any given locus an individual may be homozygous or heterozygouso Different alleles produce different phenotypes either by altering protein structure or amount- Polymorphisms/mutationso Misssense: changes amino acid sequence of protein o Nonsense: premature stopo Frameshift: insertions or deletions which shift the reading frame; usually results in non-functional productso Linkage disequilibrium: polymorphisms that lie close together- Marker-Assisted Selection:o Testing a marker vs causative polymorphismTopic 4Swine Management- Pork production:o Highest in terms of WORLDWIDE meat consumptiono In the U.S. it’s right behind beef and chickeno Japan-largest export marketo Finished hog weight: 270 poundso Today’s hogs are leaner than WWII era hogso Consumers and packers prefer less backfat!- Breeding:o Pen mating: 1 boar, several sowso Hand mating: 1 boar, 1 sowo Artificial insemination: 1 boar to 1 sow; most popularo 3 months, 3 weeks, 3 days gestation Group and individual housing- Housing systems:o Protectiono Minimize aggression and competitiono Access to food and watero Observation opportunities- Farrowing:o Typically, farrowing crates are used, but some take issue (welfare) Provides protection for workers and piglets Expensive losses occur if piglets are crushed ANSC 280 1st EditionExam #1 Study Guideo Pasture systems also used - After birth:o Iron injection- improves oxygen carrying capacity; baby pigs very susceptible to anemia; born with enough iron in the liver for 3-4 dayso Tail docking- to prevent tail biting o Ear notching- permanent IDo Castration- to avoid “boar taint”o Needle teeth- dangerous to sow and littermateso Piglets are susceptible to