Ch. 22 - 27 : Animal Sciences Test 4

Ethology

The study of animal behavior

Instinct

Reflexes & behavioral patterns inherently present at birth (eg. nursing, chicks breaking out of shells)

Habituation

A lack of response to a repeated stimulus (eg. animals not reacting to a loud sound they hear every day)

Conditioning

When an animal makes an association between a previously neutral stimulus or behavioral response and a previously significant stimulus

Examples of conditioning

Electric fence, seeing a truck (that they know means "food")

Sexual behaviors of cows

Standing estrus, allow mounting

Vasectomizing rams can identify

Estrus in ewes

Pheromones

Chemical substances that can attract opposite sex

Pheromones exist in ___, such as urine or vaginal in bulls, rams, and stallions

Secretions

Flehmen response

When a male lifts its head and curls its upper lip to detect pheromones

Animals also rely on ___ and ___ detection of estrus

visual, olfactory

Particularly in swine, females ____ ___ males

seek out

Libido does ___ ___ ___ fertility

does not always

Sometimes males get ___ to specific females, which is a problem

attached

Types of animal behaviors

Sexual, caregiving, care-soliciting, agonistic

Caregiving behavior is most often a ___ trait

maternal

Pigs ______ lick off their babies

Do NOT

When a mother licks her offspring, this stimulates ___ ____, and encourages them to ____ ___ ____

Blood circulation, stand and nurse

Mothers often become ___ to protect their young

aggressive

Milk production is affected by days since parturition and

amount of suckling from offspring

If females are fed late in the evening, more will calf during the

daytime/daylight hours

Care-soliciting behavior

When animals cry for help when disturbed, distressed, or hungry

Dams can usually recognize the sight and sound of their offspring, but ___ is more effective to recognize

smell

In many cases, before the dam allows the baby to nurse

She needs to recognize the baby

Agonistic behavior is a __________ response

fight-or-flight/aggressive or passive

Agonistic behavior can be interactions with animals or

humans

_______ males are known for fighting with other males

uncastrated

Agonistic behavior is about establishing

dominance

Establish dominance:

offense, defense, escape, passivity

Once one animal accepts ____, the agonistic fighting will (likely) stop

passivity

Animals that develop pecking orders

Cows, sows, and mares

Ewes may fight more ___

minimally

Animals raised in groups rather than isolation tend to do ___ in groups

Better

Presence of ___ usually means that that animal outranks others without ___

horns

Animals housed in groups eat ___ than those housed separately

more

More submissive cows wean ___ calves, and ___ are pregnant compared to more aggressive cows

lighter, fewer

It is important to only keep animals with

good temperaments

Agonistic behavior is usually checked while

animals are being handled

More white on a Holstein typically means

more "crazy"/aggressive behavior

Agonistic behavior are a response to how the animal has ____ ____, and their ____

been treated, genetics

Disposition is _____ to _____ inherited

medium to highly

Producers might ___ based on disposition

cull

Animals with poor temperament do not _____ as well

Gain

Animals handled in a low stress manor are typically

Healthier

Sheep have a memory of

1 year

Ease of handling is dependent on

Temperament, size, previous handling experience, & facilities

Animals remember both ___ and ___ experiences

positive and negative

Animals acclimated to people handling them in calm manners will be

easier to handle

Flight zone

The "bubble" of an animal - when someone is in said zone, the animal will react/move/run away

The size of an animals' flight zone depends on the

temperament of the animal

When less-acclimated animals are being handled, they are typically on

High alert

Factors that can cause animals to react

Shadows, sounds, odors, movement

Many animals move better when they are in a ___ chute where they can't see anything but what is in front of them

Curved

Animals moved ___ and ___ are less likely to injure themselves/each other/the handler

calmly, quietly

Animals that aren't stressed are more ___, ___, and cause ___ damage to facilities

productive, healthier, less

Ruminant ingestive behavior

Regurgitate, chewing cud, reswallow (ruminate)

Animals in extensive operations tend to stay ___ to water

closer

Cattle will travel __ miles for water

3

Sheep will travel __ miles for water

8

Strategic ways to encourage animals to drink

Salt blocks, strategically/specifically placed water sources

___ can affect grazing behavior (eg. snow)

Weather

Cold temperatures result in ___ grazing (especially in younger animals)

Less

Eliminative behavior

Urinating and defecating

Cattle, sheep, goats, and chickens

void indiscriminately (poop/pee wherever they want)

Hogs defecate in

Specific areas of the pen/pasture

Horses tend to void/defecate on

Manure piles from other horses

Cattle, sheep, goats, and swine defecate while ___ or ___

standing or walking

ALL animals urinate while ___

standing

Farm animals urinate or defecate ___ frequently when stressed or excited

More

"Shrink"

Weight loss during transit (3%); much weight loss during the first hour of transit

Shelter-seeking behavior

behaviors that an animal exhibits to escape from weather, insects, or danger

Ruminants seek

Shady areas for rest and rumination in warm temperatures

Pigs seek ___ ___ when hot

wet areas

When cold, animals...

crowd together

Extreme cases of crowding together can cause

Smothering

Animals often seek shelter under ___ when it rains

Trees

Hiding under trees can cause devastating consequences during

Thunder storms (if lightning strikes a tree that the herd is under, it can kill the whole herd)

Investigative behavior is AKA

Curiosity

In different situations, the same object could appear to be

intriguing in one situation and threatening in another

Allelomimetic Behavior

When animals of the same species tend to do the same thing at the same time

Cattle tend to ___, ___, and ___ at the same time

graze, rest, ruminate

Animals walk to water at a ___ time each day, and ___ the leader

similar, follow

Animals walking to water at similar times and following the leader lends itself to

Gathering animals

Communication

When some type of information is exchanged between individuals

Communication can be with ___ of the sense(s)

any

Communication examples

Transfer of odor, responding to the call of a producer or feed hand, males "threatening" each other with a bellow

Horses have ___ and ___ sounds

vocal, non-vocal

Cattle are very perceptive to ___

sight

Types of abnormal behaviors

Cannibalism and buller-steer syndrome

Cannibalism occurs particularly in ___ and ___

Swine and poultry

What kind of swine and poultry does cannibalism typically occur in?

Swine and poultry maintained in confinement

How do you prevent cannibalism in pigs?

Tail-docking

Buller-steer syndrome typically presents in ___

Steers that have been castrated before puberty

Buller-steer syndrome

Where certain steers (bullers) are more sexually attractive to other males, leading to males mounting other males

Buller-steer syndrome can lead to

Lower gains

How do you prevent/"treat" buller-steer syndrome?

Typically, by separating the males into their own, separate pens

Issues facing animal agriculture

Sustainability and natural resource management, food safety, animal well-being, diet-health issues, production technologies

Solutions of feeding 9 billion people

Increasing food production (plants & animals)

Ways to increase food production (plants)

Precision irrigation systems, new plant breeding technologies, reducing food loss (eg. 33.5% of calories of food are lost to pests, spoilage, and waste)

If food loss was reduced by just half, it would increase food availability by __-__%

15-25%