Animal Behavior and Welfare Exam 2

Normal Behavior of Cows

Large amount of time spent grazing, prey species, social groups in herds (mothers and offspring stay together), wander, graze and rest together, always wants to be in a group

Vision of Cows

Panoramic vison 330 degree, important sense, attention to moving object, poor dept perception

Calm Cows

Fewer lameness issues, head is down to see where they are placing their feet

Fear or Pain in Cows

Wide eyes, reluctant to enter area or stalls, flicking tail, pawing, kicking, dull/depressed attitude, head held low or withdrawn, react violently or adopt ridged position when handled, grunting, moaning, grinding teeth, shivering/muscle tremors, baulking, pointing feet (standing not square), arched back

Low Mooing

Often sign of contentment, especially when cows are feeding or being milked

Loud or Frequent Mooing

may indicate discomfort, hunger, or seperation anxyity from the herd; or estrous behavior

Cognition and Learning in Cows

Long memories, recognize people by face or colors of clothes, calves and cows learn fear responses to humans who handle them roughly

Laying Down for Cows

Approximately 12-14 hors a day

Rumination Cows

Approximately 7 hours per day with more than half done at night and most laying down

Resting Cows

Average 6 hours a day, mix of day and night

Cows and Pastures

Are better out in pasture most of the time

Unwell Cows

Dull eyes, sluggish movement, poor grooming, poor appetite, over-stretching of the neck, hunching the back, kicking the belly, grinding teeth, star-gazing

Cattle and Temperature

Cattle do not sweat efficently, need cooler temeratures and shade

Cows Social Behavior

Form bonds with herdmates, like to stay with herd and be able to socialize with them

Allogrooming

Licking of cows that are their agemates, kin, or those closest to them, most licking on head and neck

Cows and Senses

Sensative to touch and loud noises

Sheep VS Goats

Sheep: Grazers, rams head butt, lambs tend to stay with the flock

Goats: Browsers, bucks rear and come down with their heads, kids jump and climb on elevated objects

What is a Sheep

Highly social, very alert and vigilant, stoic and hide signs of pain, illness and weakness

Normal Behaviors and Needs of Sheep

Grazing: Standing, likes grass, clover, grazes most of the day, 4-14 hours/day

Awake 16 hours/day

Major meals around sunrise

Sheep Social Behaviors

Shy and attentive, mostly choses flight, also will flock and crowd together if there is a predator. Social buffering, conspecifics provide motivation, lambs are "followers" of mothers

Social Buffering

Individual reacts less intensely to stressor when with conspecifics

Sheep Behaviors

Can be startled with sudden, intense sounds/noises, reactive, more difficult to handle, teeth griding

Teeth Grinding in Sheep

Sheep grind top and bottom teeth together, destress signal in reactive sheep

Alarm Body Language in Sheep

Head held up rigidly while walking with quick, short steps

Pain Behaviors in Sheep

Tend to become quiet, griding teeth, immobility

Stress in Sheep

Plays important part in sheep cognitive performance and processing, because of their high stress response and fear, they can perform poorly in situations in which their stress escalates

Moving Sheep

Done with "sheep-ness" in mind, keep calm and low stress to prevent panic

Sheep and Olfaction (Sense of Smell)

Used to distinguish predators, recognition instinctual, distinguish conspecifics, ewes locate their lambs, locate water, discern plants and feed

What is a Goat

Gregarious, more independent, force isolation can cause stress, more reactive then sheep, face attackers when threatened

Goat Normal Behaviors and Needs

Browsers, grazers, complex/flexible diet. Flexible lips, upper lip more mobile. Inquisitive feeders, spend up to 11 hours/day browsing. Explorers, need vertical space, choice, control

Goat Diets

Shrubs 60%, forbs 20%, grasses 20%

Goats Social Structure

Very social, social isolation is stressful, with predator approach, goats tend to break away from flock, kids hide, play is important "king of the mountain"

Tail Position in Goats

Up and Curled: Positive state, happy, content

Down/Straight: Stressed, unsure, unwell

Wagging and Relaxed: Happy, content

Sneezing in Goats

Showing alertness, alerts other goats to danger

Grinding Teeth in Goats

Pain, stress, discomfort

Alarmed Body Language in Goats

Foot stamp, high-pitched noises/sneezes

Pain Body Language in Goats

Will vocalize

Goat Cognition

Pointing/interoperating gaze, use experiences/can watch humans and learn, want to find familiar faces in a group, like to work for rewards

What is a Pig

Foraging (7-9 hours), 50% of daylight hours rooting, chewing, oral manipulation, exploring, foraging

Pig Time Budget

Pigs spend more time resting

Normal Behaviors and Needs of Pigs

Highly motivated to explore, investigate with mouth, need to perform exploratory and manipulation. Very curious, browsing, foraging, rooting in soil, sows need to build nests before giving birth. Wallowing in mud/water to control body temperature. Need to defecate/urinate away from where they rest/sleep

Elimination Behavior in Pigs

Very discriminating, will eliminate in one location so as to keep their resting area clean, prefer to eliminate near walls

Exploratory Behavior in Pigs

Critical to normal development, much investigation with nose is due to curiosity, ad lib feeding does not eliminate this behavior, need changeability for engagement

Comfort Behaviors in Pigs

Wallowing, mud provides better evaporative cooling, scratching, rubs against objects in the environment, scratch head and neck with hind legs, scratch to maintain body surface condition. Do not allogroom

Pigs and Sweating

Do sweat to some degree but not the same as humans

Social Behaviors in Pigs

Highly social, gregarious, noising behavior, nose-to-nose contact, nosing head or body are genital social behaviors. Stable family groups, living in small groups called sounds, older boars and males usually live in solitary, females become solitary when time to give birth

Farrowing

Pigs giving birth

Piglet Behaviors

'Teat seeking" behavior, vigorously massage udder to cause milk let down. Teat sampling, eventually establish teat order, bigger pigs typically maintain the "best" teats, teats in the front, play is very important

Feeding Behavior in Pigs

Conta free loading, working for food even when free food is available

Pig Hierarchy

Hierarchy maintained by nose contacts and agonistic behavior, dominance describes a relationship between two individuals of the same species in a social group it is how access to resources is determined. Aggression is used to establish order but should not be necessary to maintain it. Minor injury if space to flee, severe injury if limited space to flee

Aggression in Pigs

Happens when resources are lacking, mixing of new pigs, fights over space. Push against necks and shoulders, bites directed towards face, ears, and neck

Calm Body Language in Pigs

Head and ears low, body relaxed, moving at a walk or trot, attention mostly forward

Tails in Pigs

If tail hanging down straight while walking around, rooting, and interacting (when usually curled) sign of illness or stress. Tightly curled tail is usually positive

Agonistic Body Language in Pigs

Short moments of distinct eye fixation on opponent at same time ears twitch forward and upwards. Followed by violent, rapid bites with loud screams.

Pig Body Language When Frightened

Short, strong alarm sound, stand still for very brief moment, looking in direction of threat, may then flee from threat

Anti-Predator Behavior in Pigs

Usually flee but can fight back with biting

Defensiveness in Pigs

Head and ears rising, still moving away but with increased attention towards handler

Vocalizations in Pigs

Impotent for communications

Vision in Pigs

Still side vision, prey to large carnivores, survival in open habitats

Smell in Pigs

Important means of communication, can recognize other pigs from smell of urine. Communicate danger by use of smell, stressed pig releases alarm substance in urine

Enrichment in Pigs

3 stages to foraging behaviors, searching, manipulating, and eating. Least desirable are chains and hard objects, most are rough ground, pasture or woodland

Environmental Enrichment and Pigs

Like to explore things that are manipulatable and changeable, can become bored, toys that are hard they lose interest, they like to be able to destroy things or take them apart

Pigs and Human Relationships

Growth rate better in piglets handled pleasantly, slow is best

Different Uses of Chicken

Egg-laying or meat/broiler chickens

What is a Chicken

Lays 10-15 eggs per year, lifespan is greater then 10 years

Chicken Social Behaviors

Prey, very social, flocks, hierarchies not linear or stable necessarily. Optimal group number is less than 30. pecking order determines resources, avoid unfamiliar

Chicken Normal Behaviors

Foraging, exploring, investigating, scratching, looking for edible things. 50% of day foraging. Preening, maintain plumage, distributes preening oil from uropygial gland

Dust Baths

Chickens, roll around in dirt, plumage upkeep, temp regulation, external parasites

Chicken Needs

Perching, investigation, cover and shelter. Nesting to lay eggs, needs to be secluded, quiet, dark, and covered. Abnormal egg shape = potential indicator environment or welfare issues

Indoor Environment for Chickens

Shelter, cover, space, ventilation, choice, safety ground, perches, different heights and shapes

Outdoor Environment for Chickens

Sunlight, easy to heat stress and frost bite

Chicken as Prey Species

Crop allows them to eat and store food for later digestion. Hide pain, illness till severe

Eyes in Chickens

Double cones, sensitive motion detection

Beak in Chickens

Very well innervated, tip is specialized and sensitive. Damage can come from neuroma and cause chronic pain

Referential Communication

Attach meaning to each signal similar to how we use words

Chicken Emotions

Vast array, have empathy react to what they know is negative experience

Chicken Intelligence

Episodic memory, social learning

Stress in Chickens

Panting, open mouth breathing, piling, pacing

Fear Behavior in Chickens

Hysteria, piling, flighty, laying eggs on floor, open mouth breathing, freeze in place

Piling

Multiple chickens cluster and pile up on one another, can cause suffocation

Injurious Behaviors in Chickens

Excessive feather pecking, vent/cloacal pecking, cannibalism

Learning

Process of acquiring or modifying knowledge, behaviors, or mental processes, with results that last for a period of time

Awake = Learning = Associating

Alter perception of events, thinking, planning, behaving

Consolidation

Encoding of new information and transforming it into stable, enduring memories, storing in brain through neural reorg, synaptic changes

Intrinsic Factors

Predisposition, health, signalment (age/breed), emotional state, previous learned experiences, temperament, personality

Stress Response in Learning Theory

Immediate and energy-intensive for nervous systems, no energy available for non-emotional learning

Factors Affecting Learning (Intrinsic)

Animals instead learn vivid sensory memories, cannot retrieve previous learning, motivation and affective state

Extrinsic Factors

Environmental influences

Types of Learning

Associative and Non-Associative

Associative Learning

Animals learn relationship about 2 things

Non-Associative Learning

Changes in behavior without discrete consequences, animal learns to react to an event or stimulus without reinforcers

Types of Responses to Learning

Emotional, involuntary, non-emotional, voluntary

Emotional Response to Learning

Feeling emotions like joy, fear, stress

Involuntary Response to Learning

Emotions and reflexive responses mostly out of animal's control (Heart rate increase)

Non-Emotional Response to Learning

Involve cognition and reasoning (teaching animals tricks)

Voluntary Response to Learning

Mostly non-emotional behaviors under conscious control

Classical Conditioning

Associative learning, associate a neutral stimulus with a meaningful one, learning one event predicts another, resulting in instinctive, emotional response. Emotional learning, learn to feel certain ways about certain things. Involuntary, emotional, and/or reflexive response

Stimulus

Anything in the environment, and any sensory factors associated with that object or event that cause a sensory or behavioral response

Neutral Stimulus

A stimulus that does not elicit any emotional response

Unconditioned Stimulus

A stimulus that elicits an innate emotional response without previous training or learning