Behavior of Domestic Animals Final Study Guide
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146 Terms
What are the three stages of parturition?
Pre-partum, birthing, and post-partum.
What is parturition?
The act of giving birth.
What is important to remember about female behavior in parturition?
It is highly influenced by internal physiological changes.
How can you tell if birthing is imminent?
The dilation of the cervix.
How do ruminants behave in pre-partum?
They separate from the herd 1-2 hours prior and seek out long vegetation or shelter.
How do sows behave in pre-partum?
They start nest-building 72-24 hours prior, possibly changing locations more than once (also depends on resources).
How does poultry behave in pre-partum?
1-2 hours prior to oviposition (laying of an egg), triggered by estrogen and progesterone release at ovulation. They prefer dark, secluded areas and may nest gregariously.
Who is an exception to normal pre-partum behavior and why?
Merino ewes because they like to stay with the group (strong flock cohesion).
What are 2 biological advantages of isolation birthing?
The risk of interference by herd mates is reduced and it promotes bonding of newborn and mother.
What do sows do in farrowing crates?
They have increased restlessness, frequent altering of position, intermittent grunting, champing of jaws, increased respiratory rate, and perform phantom nest-building.
What are some characteristics of pre-partum behavior?
Tail swishing, looking at sides, pawing at the ground, less agnostic behavior, and mis-mothering (interest in other’s young).
What time does parturition most commonly occur?
At night - 80% for horses, common for pigs and humans.
How can you determine the time of parturition for cattle and sheep?
By their time of feeding.
What stage of parturition is pain most evident?
Birthing.
How can you tell if the chorio-alantosis (outer fetal membrane) is ruptured?
If there’s bulging of amniotic sac into vaginal canal.
What are the three varying positions for females during parturition?
Lateral recumbency, standing, and crouching.
What do cows without complications do during parturition?
They will remain recumbent throughout the process.
What do cows with complications do doing parturition?
They will be more likely to stand up during the process due to birthing difficulties.
How can you tell if parturition is completed?
By the breakage of the umbilical cord.
What is the definition of dystocia?
Difficult birth; labor obstruction.
What is total time of parturition for a cow?
About 1 hour.
What is total time of parturition for a mare?
17 minutes (or 10-70 minutes).
What is total time of parturition for a sow?
15 minutes for each offspring (may stand up in between).
What is total time of parturition for a dog?
20-30 minutes for each offspring.
What is total time of parturition for a cat?
30-45 minutes for each offspring.
What does the distention of the uterus, cervix, and vagina do?
It releases oxytocin systemically (in the bloodstream to affect all other organs) or centrally (affects the brain) to initiate maternal behavior.
Describe the process of expelling the placenta in post-partum (first step).
Usually expelled within 1-2 hours after birth, cows and sows eat the placenta (placentophagic), mares do not.
What is the second step in post-partum behavior?
Grooming of the neonate.
The third step is for the young to leave or stay at their birthing site. What determines their decision?
Young are either hiders or followers; some precocial young are hiders; the goal is to protect themselves from predators.
Who is an exception to post-partum behavior and why?
Sows; they rarely groom their young, will use their forelimbs to scoop piglets towards udder, and nervous sows can become cannibalistic.
What is prolactin and what does it do?
It is a hormone released by the pituitary gland that influences post-partum behavior.
Describe the importance of grooming.
It starts at the head dorsally (moving towards the back) and progresses to ventrally (moving towards the front/belly), it removes amniotic fluid, reduces heat loss, imparts pheromone identification (via saliva), and it draws the neonate’s attention to its mother.
What do increased vocalizations between mother and neonate while grooming do?
It increases their bond.
What is the vocalization that occurs between mares and their young while grooming?
A low nicker.
What is the vocalization that occurs between cows and their young while grooming?
A bellow and low grunts.
What is the vocalization that occurs between ewes and their young while grooming?
Low-pitched gurgling.
What is the vocalization that occurs between does and their young while grooming?
Low-pitched bleats.
What is the vocalization that occurs between sows and their young while grooming?
Rhythmic grunts.
Why is there declined licking in median time heifers?
It is due to decreased maternal response/attraction to amniotic fluid on the calf.
What happens when an inexperienced mother has twins?
They are more likely to ignore the 2nd born.
How should a good mother assist in the teat-seeking of the newborn?
They should stand still and/or positively orient their body to accommodate the exploratory efforts of the newborn.
What will inexperienced or poorly socialized heifers possibly do to their newborn as they start teat-seeking?
They may kick, butt, turn towards, or overcorrect their newborn.
Why should separation from the mother be strictly avoided within the first hour of life (initial 20-30 minutes for small ruminants)?
It will lead to rejection (handling of a newborn by human will not necessarily affect maternal acceptance).
Maternal motivation in cows are very strong, as long as the cows have exposure to the newborn for 24 hours. What happens if the newborn dies?
The strong maternal motivation remains for up to 5 days, this making fostering/acceptance of an orphan calf possible.
How can a ewe be convinced to take a foster lamb?
You can mask the orphan lamb’s odor with application of amniotic fluids (can be fresh or frozen if needed in the future) or use of the fleece from dead lamb. You can also stretch ewe’s cervix prior to introduction and restrain the ewe during nursing attempts.
Social hierarchy may affect lactation quantity and quality. Why?
Lack of resources, feeding behavior, and agnostic interactions can prevent access to necessary nutrients/calories for milk production.
What is an altricial neonate?
A newborn in an immature state and needs parental care for survival.
What is a precocial neonate?
A newborn that is mature, mobile soon after birth, and is able to move and feed on their own.
What is the first stage of development post-parturition?
Initial environment exposure - newborn sits up sternally (on the breastbone), shaking head, ears upright.
What is the second stage of development post-parturition?
Attempts to stand - ear end first for ruminants, front end first for foals, unsteadiness of first steps, eponychial tissue protects mom from trauma of internal organs.
What is the third stage of development post-parturition?
Attempts to nurse - myopic/near-sighted and tactile vibrissae (sensory hairs), teat-seeking and suckling, takes 2 hours max and involves reinforced learning.
What is the behavioral summary of a foal neonate?
Week 1-3: spends majority (50% of day) resting, usually in lateral recumbency, suckle for ~21 minutes every hour, and grabually begin to eat grass in a wide-fore limb stance.
What is the behavioral summary of a calf neonate?
Exploratory nuzzling/teat-seeking, attracted to dark underbelly of mother, newborns suck 5-10 times day in ~10 minutes, take so long for dairy calves to perform due to very large and down low udders of mother. inter-sucking (suckling udders of another cow) can be a problem.
What is the behavioral summary of a lamb neonate?
Standing and suckling within first hour, body weight dependent, must be able to follow, rapid sensory development, early maternal recognition and bonding, will keep head close to ewe’s while she grazes, suckles 60-70 times per 24 hours (1-3 minutes per suckle), vigorous tail-wagging to encourage ewe to continue to stand.
What is the behavioral summary of a piglet neonate?
Stand very quickly, highly innervated snout, low grunts by sow precede milk let-down, poor ability to regulate body temperature so they huddle, 10-15% mortality rate due to mother crushing, formation of teat order from competition, suckle every 20-30 minutes for ~14-20 seconds at a time.
What is the behavioral summary of a chick neonate?
Active within shell, vocalizations with the shell prior to hatch (distress or satisfaction), initial heat-seeking toward broody hen, behavioral development and learning enhanced by presence of hen, rejection/weaning when down feathers are lost from head (when adult feathers begin to grow, losing their fuzz).
What is play?
Activity, most commonly observed in healthy, young mammals, in which individuals develop physical fitness while also discovering/learning about their environment, communication, proper social interaction and social roles; mimics normal adult behaviors.
Play behavior may include sexual behavior elements, but why is it not associated with real sexual behavior?
There are no reproductive hormones involved due to no puberty occurrence.
What are some characteristics of play behavior?
Typically patterned in nature, cessation of the behavior does not occur as it would under “normal” circumstances, lack of anger or fear type emotions, spontaneous bursts of locomotion, environmental enrichment encourages, important for proper neurological development, complexity follows brain size, surface area stimulated by gonadal hormones (in the cerebrum of the brain).
What are the five criteria essential for identifying play behavior?
It is not fully functional.
It is self-rewarding.
It differs in structure or timing compared to it’s adult/serious form.
It is performed repeatedly, but not stereotypically.
Expressed when an animal is in a relaxed state.
What are the three broad categories of play?
Social play – directed at another animal or human.
Locomotor-rotational play – vigorous running, jumping, head shakes or body twists.
Object play – manipulation of an inanimate object.
What type of play do dogs primarily utilize?
Social play.
What type of play to cats primarily utilize?
Object play.
What type of play to livestock species primarily utilize?
Locomotor-rotational and social play.
What are play markers and what do they do?
They are movements or actions that only occur during the playful versions of a behavior; never in the serious form. They help clarify play vs. truly agnostic behavior. Vocalizations have individual variations (ex: dog has play-bow, piglets have head-tossing & pivoting).
What is the species-specific play behavior for foals?
They use their teeth and do not headbutt.
What is the species-specific play behavior for calves?
They headbutt and do not use their teeth.
What is the species-specific play behavior for piglets?
They thrust up their heads.
Why do males generally spend more time in play?
Most mating systems are polygamous (males have multiple mating partners), which means play is important to learn in regards to defending territories/females.
What is gambolling in piglets?
Play behavior where they run and jump, bark simultaneously, and run in circles.
What is normal behavior?
Behavior considered “natural” and is developed during evolutionary adaptation; includes learned behaviors that, serve function of promoting health, survival, and reproduction.
What is abnormal behavior?
Normal behaviors performed at wrong frequencies, intensities, and context; can be considered a coping mechanism with unsatisfied conditions.
What are some forms of abnormal behavior?
Stereotypies, self-directed, environmental-directed, other animal-directed, failure to function, and anomalous reactivity.
What are stereotypies?
Behavior that goes from normal to abnormal; movements which are repeated in the same manner over and develop when normal, highly motivated behaviors are prevented. Species-specificity is based on how animal is wired (can be mostly unique to them).
What kind of stereotypies do herbivores and omnivores develop?
Oral stereotypies: biting, pecking, chewing, etc.
What kind of stereotypies do carnivores and predators develop?
Locomotory stereotypies: pacing, route-tracing, etc.
What are some characteristics of stereotypies?
Nutritional inadequacy can contribute
to abnormal behavior, can be due to frustration, may be an incomplete version of a normal behavior, may be difficult to interrupt, typically only seen in captive wild animals, may be self-rewarding/coping mechanism, indicative of poor welfare.
What are some stereotypic behaviors?
Pacing or route-tracing, circling and tail chasing, rocking, swaying, weaving
rubbing, pawing and stall kicking, head-shaking or nodding, wind-sucking, eye-rolling, sham-chewing, tongue-rolling, licking or crib-wetting, bar-biting, tether-biting, crib-biting, and drinker pressing.
What is pacing and/or route-tracing?
A stereotypic behavior where an animal repeatedly follows a path that returns to it’s original starting point; usually associated with restricted environment and may results from lack of access to a social partner or resource.
What is circling and tail-chasing?
A stereotypic behavior that commonly occurs when a horse is in a stall or when a dog is chasing its tail; can be caused by lack of exercise/boredom/environmental stimulation.
What is rocking, swaying, and weaving?
A stereotypic behavior where animal remains in one place, but moves body back and forth or side-to-side and may or may not include head swinging; no real purpose, may be due to anticipation.
What is rubbing?
A stereotypic behavior where some part of the body is repeatedly moved back and forth against a solid object; more so than just satisfying an itch.
What is pawing and stall-kicking?
A stereotypic behavior that is considered abnormal when performed in a more vigorous, persistant fashion; may be attention-seeking or the result of frustration.
What is head-shaking or head-nodding?
A stereotypic behavior where head is moved repeatedly in a vertical, lateral, or rotary motion; may only last for a few seconds, but repeated many times in succession.
What is wind-sucking?
A stereotypic behavior where air is taken into the mouth, but not swallowed; there is a characteristic sound on exhalation and it may be combined with cribbing or head-nodding (horses) or tongue-curling (catttle).
What is eye-rolling?
A stereotypic behavior where eyes are moved around in the orbit, but when no vicible object is present; “whites” of the eyes more visible, can result from isolation from conspecifics or mother.
What is sham-chewing?
A stereotypic behavior where there is a chewing motion of the jaw, but no food is in the mouth; may cause frothing/foaming at the mouth and is common in stalled sows with no bedding/litter.
What is tongue-rolling?
A stereotypic behavior where tongue is extruded fro mouth, curled/uncurled either inside or outside of mouth; occurs when no food/solid material is present; common in cattle because they mimic prehension of forage, may be associated with wind-sucking, and most common immediately before and after feeding.
What is licking or crib-wetting?
A stereotypic behavior where tongue is applied repeatedly to area of animal’s own body or an object; may result in injury of tongue or targeted area of body, may be associated with inadequate food volume, lack of a teat (nursing young), or boredom; can be obsessive/compulsive and involves endorphin release.
What is bar-biting, tether-biting, and crib-biting?
A stereotypic behavior where an animal opens and closes its mouth around a bar, tether or stable door, engaging the tongue and teeth with the surface and performing chewing movements; often episodic, not diet related, and may be improved by providing alternative methods of oral/environmental enrichment.
What is drinker-pressing?
A stereotypic behavior where an animal presses on an automatic waterer without ingesting any of the water; the nipple drinker may be the only “interesting” item in the environment; common in pregnant sows.
What are self-directed abnormal behaviors?
Abnormal behaviors that may be associated with parasites, infection, pain or stress; may result in large amount of hair ingestion; examples are excessive licking, chewing, scratching, plucking, biting, kicking, etc.
What are environment-directed abnormal behaviors?
Abnormal behaviors that involves sucking or eating abnormal objects that can be solved by companionship; it may be caused by phosphorus deficiency (pica in livestock), lack of roughage (horses may debark trees), litter-eating (gizzard impaction (chickens) or colic (horses)), and can result in coprophagia (rabbits, dogs, piglets and foals).
What is overeating/hyperphagia/polyphagia?
A directed abnormal behavior that involves rapid consumption of feed/frequent hunger; may lead to choking or bloat and may be disease related.
What is polydipsia?
A directed abnormal behavior that involves frequent/increased water consumption; diseases such as Cushing’s and renal (kindey) disease can lead to polydipsia; can involve iatrogenic (something is caused by what animal is being given) steroid administration.
What is other-animal directed behavior?
A directed abnormal behavior that involves treating other animals as objects.
What is egg eating?
An other animal-directed abnormal behavior that involves chickens eating each other’s or their own eggs; can be cause by lack of access to adequate grit.
What is wool-pulling/sucking?
Am other animal-directed abnormal behavior that involves sheep pulling on each other’s wool; most common in crowded pens, may be caused by roughage deficiency, and social order plays a role (subordinates have bare backs).
What is feather-pecking?
An other animal-directed abnormal behavior involving chickens pecking each other’s feathers; it is common and misdirected and can be caused by barren environments with high stocking densities; high temperature, poor ventilation & excessive illumination also contribute; may lead to cannibalism, but can be managed by beak trimming and changing of the lighting (red hues).
What is anal-nosing/massaging?
An other animal-directed abnormal behavior that involves nose rubbing/rooting in and around anus; occurs in barren, crowded environments; most common in grower (young) swine and in those tail-docked at a young age.