Animal Behavior Behavior way a whole animal reacts

Animal Behavior • Behavior – way a whole animal reacts to internal or external stimulus • Through movements, postures, displays, eating, eliminating, mating, care-giving, sounds, smells, hiding, threatening, killing etc.

Behavior • Varies among species • Varies among members of same species • Determines fitness – ability to survive and reproduce • Determined by natural selection (at least in part)

Behavior • Knowledge of behavior • Important in determining proper management • eg. piglets nurse more frequently if recorded sounds of nursing piglets are played • Human behavior follows many of the same patterns as animal behavior

Causes of Behavioral Responses in Animals • Determined by heredity (internal factors) • Determined by learning experiences (external factors)

Causes of Behavioral Responses in Animals • Hereditary influences • Breeds selected for certain behaviors • eg. horses selected for work, running, draft etc • No one breed excels in all behaviors

Innate Behavioral Patterns • Direct hereditary influences on behavior • Heredity affects organ size and response • Heredity affects enzymes and hormones • Both vary widely among lines with different behaviors

Experience and Learning • Behavior based on instincts and reflexes • Behavior expands or contracts from instinct due to experiences • Habituation • Animals develop habits quickly if experiences direct that development in a consistent manner

Experience and Learning • Conditioning • Classical conditioning (associative learning • response to previously neutral stimulus • Pavlov’s dogs • provided a sound whenever fed • would start to salivate just from the sound • Dairy cows start to “let down” milk just from being let into milking parlor

Experience and Learning • Conditioning • Operant conditioning • response to positive or negative reinforcement • horse receives treat when performing a trick • will do trick whenever offered the treat • animals stay away from electric fence after shock experiences

Experience and Learning • Insight learning (reasoning) • Ability to respond correctly at a new experience • Early malnutrition appears to interfere with reasoning ability

Experience and Learning • Imprinting • Newly hatched duckling will adopt any moving object as its parent • Can be accomplished only very early in life

Intelligence • Organization of behavior • Varies widely between and within species • Conventional wisdom is that mammals are more intelligent than non-mammals • Order of mammalian intelligence • Primates – monkeys, chimps, gorillas, humans • Ocean mammals – whales, dolphins • Carnivores – dogs, cats • Ungulates – pigs, horses, cattle, sheep etc

Motivation • Internal state of animal which drives it to behave a certain way • Hypothalamus controls several types of behavior • appetite • sexual behavior

Animal Communication • Sounds • Animals will respond to call of distress • from offspring • from another member of their species • Some species emit radar type sounds • bats, dolphins

Animal Communication • Chemicals • Pheromones • chemical substance that attracts others • many species – pheromones used to attract mate • Urine or feces used to “mark” territory

Animal Communication • Visual displays • Many birds – use wing or feather displays in courtship • Many mammals – raise hair on neck when fearful • Honeybees – workers use a dance to indicate food supply

Orientation Behavior (Homing) • Many anecdotes • About dogs, cats etc – find way home over long distance • Salmon • Hatched in freshwater stream • Swim to ocean • Return to same stream to spawn

Ingestive Behavior • Eating and drinking • First behavior – suckling • Teeth pattern affects ingestion • swine and horses have full set of teeth in both jaws • ruminants – cattle, sheep, goats • no upper front teeth

Ingestive Behavior • Ruminant intake • Food is taken in, chewed, swallowed • Later is regurgitated and chewed again • behavior is called “rumination” • Grazing behavior affects forage and range management • usually eat more tender parts first, more palatable plants may be eliminated • Cattle will face directly North or South while grazing

Ingestive Behavior • Cattle spend 1/3 to ½ of time grazing • Cattle graze at all hours of day • Some more at daybreak, late afternoon, just before dark • Nursing occurs both day and night • most often at daybreak, midday and dusk

Ingestive Behavior • Pigs born with tendency to root (dig in soil) • Will root less if fed well-balanced diet • If fed a grain and protein supplement separately • Pigs will come close to balancing their own diet

Eliminative Behavior • Some animals deposit feces randomly • Other animals follow a pattern • Farm animals tend to behave in this area like their wild ancestors

Eliminative Behavior • Cattle defecate randomly • Will lie in feces • Will avoid eating plants near fecal deposits • Cattle usually urinate randomly • Sheep follow similar pattern as cattle

Eliminative Behavior • Swine are thought by many to be unclean • Swine actually very clean animals • Usually deposit feces in a corner • Frequently deposit feces near source of water • Proper design of swine pens will promote regular patterns of defecation and urination

Eliminative Behavior • Horses will return to a single place for defecation • Poultry defecate at random, except heavy in roosting place • Cats bury feces • Dogs tend to defecate in specific places

Shelter-Seeking Behavior • Reasons to seek shelter • Protection from: • sun • wind • rain • predators • insects

Shelter-Seeking Behavior • Behavior prior to storms • Cattle will descend from high mountain pastures just prior to a storm • Cattle will seek shade during heat of day • Cows will congregate around water at same time each day

Shelter-Seeking Behavior • Swine seek shade or wallow in water when hot • Need for evaporative cooling • Swine will sleep huddled together when cold • Cattle, horses sheep will turn away from storm • Bison face into a storm

Agonistic (Fighting) Behavior • Involves: • Threat • Aggression • Submission • Escape • Passivity

Agonistic (Fighting) Behavior • Intact males will fight for mating rights • Castrated males tend to be docile • Boars, bulls, rams, stallions that run together from young age seldom fight • Dominance order already established • In large range herds with many bulls • Bulls with graze together at times with no cows around

Agonistic (Fighting) Behavior • First introduction of sexually mature males • Almost always results in a fight • Serious injuries, seldom death, may occur • Some breeds of cattle have been selected for fighting behavior

Sexual Behavior • Comprises courtship and mating • Important because necessary to continue species • Males are highly efficient at detecting estrus (time of mating receptivity) in females • Estrus in females also called “heat”

Sexual Behavior • Estrus (heat) in females • Sow stands still from person placing hand on rump • Mare will squeal and urinate in presence of others • Mares and ewes do not seek males as much as other species • Cows and sows will let other females mount

Sexual Behavior • Males detect female estrus by sight and smell • Stallion will bite and tease the female • Boar will nudge the sow around shoulders • Rooster will spread one wing to ground and perform a mating dance

Mother-Young Behavior • Maternal behavior begins at parturition (time of birth) and continues to weaning • Cows giving birth • Will seek seclusion, usually in a depression or trees • Cow will inspect calf and lick it clean • Calf stands and starts to nurse after ~ 1 hour • Cow eats the placenta (so as to not alert predators) • Cow and calf rejoin herd after 2 -4 days

Mother-Young Behavior • Cow is very possessive throughout nursing period • Will come to rescue calf very quickly • Cows identify young primarily by smell • Sight and sound also contribute to identification • Time of calf removal in beef herds is very noisy • Dairy herds – calf is separated in a few days

Mother-Young Behavior • Sows build nest ~ 18 hours before birth • Time of farrowing - ~ 4 hours • A few sows become agitated and kill piglets • Crossfostering is possible within first few days • Frequently each piglet adopts a single teat

Mother-Young Behavior • Sheep behave similarly to cattle in many way around birth • Ewes will accept orphan goats to nurse • Mares also behave in a similar manner • Mule foals receive as much attention as horse foals

Investigative (Exploratory) Behavior • Exploration through: • Seeing • Hearing • Smelling • Taste • Touch

Investigative (Exploratory) Behavior • Most farm animals appear curious • Will advance on new object looking, listening and smelling • Sheep tend to be more timid than cattle or swine • Will try to return to “flight zone” or area of normal comfort if startled

Gregarious Behavior • Species and breeds vary in terms of “flocking” instinct • Breeds developed in lush areas tend to be gregarious (stay together in groups) • Breeds developed in harsh areas tend to spread out more

Gregarious Behavior • Sheep - particularly strong gregarious behavior • Sheep also follow a leader • “Judas” goat – goat used to lead lambs to desired location at a market place • Swine are gregarious – modern production practices limit the behavior • Horses also run in “bands” – useful in training a team for draft purposes

Social Dominance • Well organized social rank order • Prominent in many farm species • Most obvious when species tends to fight or when resources are limited • Especially evident in chickens • hens will fight to establish the “peck” order • roosters assume dominance during laying season

Social Dominance • Advantage – gives mating preference to strongest males (important for sustaining genetic merit for strength in a species) • Disadvantage – weaker individuals are sometimes deprived of food if it is limited • Genetic contribution – appears to be moderately heritable