Welfare, Nutrition and Behaviour

AGEP 1

Animal Management: Intro to nutrition

ILO 1 → Feeding needs: carnivores and herbivores

Why are cats obligate carnivores?

They have an absolute dietary requirement for taurine, arachidonic acid and vitamin A, and generally need these from animal sources.

Which amino acids must cats get in their diet, and why?

Taurine and arginine, because their endogenous enzyme activities are deficient.

Which vitamins are also essential for cats?

Vitamin D and niacin (B3).

How is a dog's metabolism characterised?

Largely omnivorous, but it retains some carnivorous features such as a dietary requirement for vitamin D.

Name the essential dietary fatty acids for dogs.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs): linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid.

Why are vegetarian or vegan diets risky for cats and dogs?

They have a higher protein requirement than people, and vegetable protein has limited essential amino acids. Most commercial vegetarian diets are nutritionally inadequate, with lower palatability, digestibility and biological value.

Complete vs complementary diet?

Complete meets ALL dietary requirements for the species, age and neuter status. Complementary lacks at least one essential requirement and suits only as a minor source (<10% of calories).

How do working dogs' needs differ?

Higher energy requirements, possibly more iron, vitamin E and selenium. Higher-fat diets help calorie intake, and water needs rise because of panting losses.

Why does a horse need forage physiologically and psychologically?

Physiologically for GI stability and nutrition, and psychologically for the need to chew (a behavioural need).

What should a horse's concentrate feed provide?

The difference between the nutrients in forage and the nutrient requirement.

Why must sugar beet pulp be soaked for horses?

The slide states that it MUST be soaked (Speedibeet 10 min, SBP pellets 12 h).

Which vitamins and minerals are listed for horses?

Vitamins A, D, E, thiamine and riboflavin. Minerals: calcium, phosphorus, copper, zinc and selenium. Many B vitamins are made by hindgut bacterial fermentation.

What is the rule on water?

It should be freely available for all animals at all times.

ILO 2 → Anatomy and food type

How does the ruminant stomach differ in a newborn calf vs an adult cow?

The adult has a huge foregut fermentation vat (rumen) with constant mixing and grinding (rumination) and buffer addition.

What are the four compartments of the ruminant stomach shown?

Rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum.

What sign shows a calf is sucking and swallowing correctly?

It bunts at the udder while wagging its tail.

What is the horse's digestive strategy?

A selective continuous grazer (about 16 h/d eating) with a small stomach and a vast large intestine.

Why is horse meal size limited?

The stomach holds only 5-15 L, limiting grain to about 2.25 kg per 500 kg horse.

What happens in the horse's large intestine?

It is a hindgut fermenter, where a large microbial population digests complex plant material (lignin, cellulose) and fluid is absorbed. Transit time is about 50 h.

What are the stomach transit times in a horse?

Water 20 minutes, food 1 hour.

ILO 3 → Forage production

Define forage.

The aerial constituent of a plant fed to livestock. It should be the mainstay of a ruminant's diet.

When is grass production at its maximum, and why harvest then?

Late spring/early summer. The seasonal surplus is harvested for winter feeding.

Key factors for seasonal grass growth?

Soil temperature, rainfall, and soil nutrients (N, P, K).

What is a ley?

Grass sown for forage purposes (<5 years). Short-term rotational leys last 1-2 years.

Grades of permanent pasture (5+ years)?

<15% ryegrass (agrostis), <30% (second grade), >30% (first grade).

Why include legumes in sown pasture?

White clover, red clover and alfalfa fix atmospheric nitrogen.

Target pH for grass, and how is it raised?

Aim for pH 6.0 (higher for alfalfa). Add calcium carbonate (limestone). Acidity brings toxic ions (Al, Mn), while alkalinity reduces nutrient availability.

How does grass age affect composition?

Later-cut grass has more cell wall (cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin) and less cell contents (protein, sugar).

What happens to milk yield as grass ME falls?

It drops. From the table: 11.3 MJ/kg DM gives 14.6 L/d, 9.5 gives 11.8 L/d and 8.4 gives 10.0 L/d.

Forage maize: conditions and use?

Not frost tolerant and needs 6°C to grow. It yields 50-70 t/ha, is harvested at >25% DM, chopped with the grain cracked, and is ensiled as a dairy feed for its high energy (starch) and low CP (~9%).

Whole crop cereals: when cut and what are the drawbacks?

Cut for silage 2 weeks after ear emergence (30-60% DM). They have low crude protein, moderate digestibility and high aerobic deterioration risk (urea treatment possible).

Name the root and fodder crops.

Fodder beet/mangel (10-20% DM), swedes (8-12% DM), and leafy brassicas (kale, stubble turnips).

ILO 4 → forage conservation

What is silage and what DM should you aim for?

Fermented forage. Aim for about 25-30% DM, often after a 24-36 h wilt.

When is grass silage cut?

May (7 t DM/ha), July (4 t DM/ha) and, in wet years, Aug/Sept (2.2 t DM/ha).

What happens during silage fermentation?

Water-soluble carbohydrate is converted mainly to lactic acid (plus acetic, propionic and alcohols), lowering pH. Some protein breaks down to amino acids, ammonia, nitrates and amines.

What are the effects of DM <25% and >35%?

<25% means effluent is inevitable. >35% (prolonged wilting) means nutritive value declines.

What does high ammonia N indicate?

Poorer fermentation: <50 excellent, 60-100 good, 110-150 satisfactory, 160-200 slightly butyric, >200 butyric.

What causes aerobic spoilage and how is it prevented?

Yeasts and moulds after the silo is opened. Prevent by sealing the clamp and using a good face removal system and rate.

Hay: requirements and drawbacks?

It needs 4-5 days of fine weather and moisture <20%, with crop harvested when mature. Nutritive losses are high, and artificial drying is expensive.

Name the nutritive losses in hay.

Plant/microbial enzyme activity, mechanical damage, mould, oxidation, leaching from rain, and storage problems (heat damage, fire risk).

Advantages of hay over silage?

More palatable, can be made in small volumes, easier to store and transport, and much less likely to be contaminated (Clostridia, Listeria, botulism, mould).

What is haylage?

Plastic-wrapped forage fed mainly to horses. It has higher water content than hay (less dusty) but lower nutrients than most silages. pH falls to 4.5-5 within 3 weeks, making it stable, but it is more expensive than hay and prone to spoilage.

What is straw's role?

 Dried stems of wheat, barley and oats with low nutritional value, used as bedding or forage. Barley and oat straw are slightly better than wheat. It is given as roughage to ruminants on high-concentrate diets.

ILO 5 → Concentrates and straights

What are concentrates?

Energy-dense ration components, usually higher in protein than forage. They must be balanced with roughage to avoid acidosis in ruminants.

Straights vs mixes?

Straights are individual grains or products (wheat, oats, barley). Mixes are varied grains as a "mix" (like muesli) or pellets (nuts/cubes/cake).

Give examples of by-product straights.

Sugar beet pulp, brewer's grains, distiller's grains, apple pomace, biscuit/confectionery waste and bread.

How are concentrates processed?

To increase bioavailability by rolling, milling, extruding, flaking or boiling.

ILO 6 → Nutrition, health and good life

Why does feeding quantity and quality matter?

Appropriate quantities of the correct quality are vital to health.

 When do nutritional needs change?

With development, pregnancy, lactation, work and life stage.

What should feed meet?

The animal's nutritional, health and behavioural needs, plus growth and production needs in production animals.

Risk of supplements or treats?

Supplements can unbalance a balanced diet, and treats risk weight gain.

ILO 7 → climate impact and a no-waste society

How can grazing livestock help a no-waste society?

They use non-human-edible plants (grass) and byproducts to produce high-quality human food (milk), on land that often can't grow other crops.

What is unique about ruminants?

Through symbiosis with rumen microbes, they can create high-quality protein from non-protein nitrogen.

What is the main climate concern?

Greenhouse gas production, specifically methane (CH₄) from the rumen.

What is a circular nutrient economy?

Reusing nutrients, for example via manure, alongside feeding waste products to animals.

Behaviour and Handling

FTB

ILO 1 → behaviours reflect emotional states

Why is behaviour described as communication?

Animals can't speak, but they constantly communicate how they feel and what they want.

What chain links stimulus to behaviour, and what question helps you find the motivation?

Internal/external stimulus → emotion/motivation → behaviour. Ask: what does the behaviour achieve for the animal?

What are the 5 Fs a worried animal may show?

Flight, Fight, Faff about, Freeze, Fawn (appease the threat). Which comes first depends on species and learning history.

ILO 2 → how animals learn

Why is early life experience so important?

What we learn first we learn best. Animals build a blueprint of what is normal, so they need positive experiences during sensitive periods (known in cats and dogs; unclear in horses and rabbits).

Define habituation.

Repeated exposure resulting in a decreased behavioural response.

Define sensitisation.

Repeated exposure resulting in an increased behavioural response.

Define classical conditioning, with an example.

Learning that one stimulus predicts another (e.g. vets = needles, lead = walks). It produces emotional responses.

Define operant conditioning.

Learning the consequences of actions: if I do X, then Y happens.

How does a positive vet experience develop?

New experience → exposure at own pace with treats and nothing scary → willing approach → positive conditioned emotional response/habituation → positive experiences "buffer" against later negative ones.

What happens when a vet visit goes wrong?

Forced, scary, painful experience → hiding fails → negative conditioned emotional response/sensitisation. Fear responses are harder to "erase".

How does aggression develop?

The animal trials behaviours to remove a threat (usually least risky first), remembers what works, reuses it, and tries new behaviours if it fails. Intense stimuli can skip straight to the top of the ladder (affective aggression), and fear level doesn't always match the ladder because of individual differences.

ILO 3 → behavioural indicators by species

What should you know before judging body language, and how do species differ?

What is normal and relaxed for that species, breed and individual. Species differ as predator vs prey, social vs solitary, and body language vs olfactory vs auditory communicators.

Name the BSAVA ladder from least to most intense.

Yawning/blinking/nose licking → turning head away → turning body away/sitting/pawing → walking away → creeping, ears back → standing crouched, tail tucked → lying down, leg up → stiffening, staring → growling → snapping → biting.

Signs of a relaxed dog?

Body free from tension, relaxed facial muscles, ears neutral or slightly forward, tail loose.

Signs of a fearful or worried dog?

Tail tucked, weight shifted back, lowered body, furrowed brow, tense closed mouth, ears back, low fast-wagging tail, eyes on the threat.

Signs of a relaxed cat?

Ears forward and soft, half-closed eyes with small pupils, relaxed whiskers, upright tail approach, rolling on back, slow blink, "hop up". (Cats are solitary predators with limited body language who rely on scent.)

Signs of a stressed cat?

Crouching low/hiding, flattened ears, wide eyes, arched back, piloerection, tense tail, hissing/swiping.

Signs of a happy vs worried vs angry rabbit?

Happy: lying relaxed, ears close together, jumping/twisting in the air.

Worried: crouched, tense, head flat, ears flat, dilated pupils, hiding.

Angry: flicking back feet, boxing, thumping, raised tail, growling, teeth showing. (Rabbits are social prey animals.)

Subtle signs of fear, anxiety and stress in horses (BHS)?

Frequent ear rotation, turning head away, half-closed eyes, licking and chewing, repeated yawning, snatching at grass, white of eye showing, tight pursed lips, increased tail movement, fidgeting, snorting, freeze and stare. (Horses are social prey animals.)

ILO 4 → responding appropriately during handling

Why respond appropriately to body language?

Control = confidence, safety (yours, the caregiver's and later handlers'), welfare, and handleability now and in future.

What does PUPS stand for (Pet Prep Initiative)?

Pain? Urgency (could it be delayed)? Pharmaceutical help? Stress activation (what could reduce sensitisation)?

What is trigger stacking in veterinary practice?

Stressors accumulating through capture/restraint, journey, car park, waiting room, consult room, examination/treatment and hospitalisation.

How can you minimise stress before the consult room?

Reduce stress before they get in, pre-train (possibly with a behaviourist), prepare (possibly anxiolytic medication), and choose who the animal feels most comfortable with.

Handling tips to give control and predictability?

 Let the dog come to you, handle consistently, avoid picking up feet, examine on the floor, pair with something nice, slow down, take breaks, and use less "hands on".

Which scary actions should you avoid?

Touching individual "no go" areas, direct eye contact, and approaching from above.

Welfare 1

FTB

ILO 1 → Define “animal welfare”

 What are the two basic (overlapping) types of animal welfare concept?

Welfare as the state of the animal, and welfare as determined by the animal's requirements.

Broom's (1986) definition of welfare?

The welfare of an individual is its state as regards its attempts to cope with its environment.

What does the "state" concept let us do?

Objectively assess welfare by measuring markers of physical and mental state.

What are the two types of "state" and their names?

Physical (the "Function" view) and mental (the "Feelings" view).

What is the "Function" view (McGlone 1993)?

An animal is in poor welfare only when physiological systems are disturbed enough to impair survival and reproduction.