Play behavior

BEHAVIORAL SUMMARY OF THE NEONATE

  • Altricial vs. Precocial: Understanding the differences in developmental strategies among neonates.
Stages of Development Post-Parturition:
  1. Initial Environmental Exposure:
    • Observations: Sitting up sternally, shaking head, ears upright.
  2. Attempts to Stand:
    • Techniques: Ruminants stand rear-end first, while foals stand front-end first.
    • Characteristics: Initial steps may be unsteady.
    • Eponychial tissue: Protects mothers, but can lead to slipping for offspring.
  3. Attempts to Nurse:
    • Vision: Myopic/nearsighted with tactile vibrissae.
    • Behavior: Teat-seeking and strong suckling reflex.
    • Intervention: If not nursing within 2 hours, assistance is required.
    • Learning: Reinforced through experience.

THE FOAL

  • Sources: Broom & Fraser - Domestic Animal Behavior and Welfare.

  • Developmental Behavior (Week 1-3):

    • Resting: 50% of the day in lateral recumbency.
    • Social Behavior: Foals often lay down together
    • Nursing: Suckle ~21 minutes every 60 minutes.
    • Diet Transition: Begin to gradually consume grass.
    • Stance: Typically exhibit a wide fore-limb stance.

THE CALF

  • Behavioral Characteristics:
    • Exploratory Behavior: Nuzzling and teat-seeking behavior, influenced by udder size and milk availability.
    • Physical Attraction: Attracted to mother’s dark underbelly; uses nose to explore.
    • Nursing Frequency: Suckle 5-10 times/day for ~10 minutes.
    • Behavioral Changes: Decrease in sucking hours with age, increased grazing observed.
    • Inter-sucking Issues: Common in situations where calves suck on non-maternal individuals, often exacerbated by social facilitation.
    • Nipple Waterers: Can minimize inter-sucking behavior.

THE LAMB

  • Behavioral Summary:
    • Must stand and suckle within the 1st hour.
    • Dependent on body weight; able to follow mother is key.
    • Rapid sensory development leads to early bonding with ewe.
    • Experienced behaviors include close head positioning while grazing, suckling 60-70 times in 24 hours (Duration: 1-3 minutes per session).
    • Physical Cue: Tail wagging encourages ewe to stand during feeding.

THE PIGLET

  • Behavior & Characteristics:
    • Stand quickly after birth and rely on strong senses of smell and touch.
    • Recognition & interaction with mother through low grunts.
    • Survival Risk: High mortality rate (10-15%) mainly from crushing by the mother due to poor temperature regulation.
    • Observe competitive suckling, which can be exacerbated by frequent movement of the mother.
    • Nursing Behavior: Suckle every 20-30 minutes for ~14-20 seconds at a time.

THE CHICK

  • Behavioral Insights:
    • Active within the egg; vocalizations preceding hatching serve as communication cues.
    • Initial behavior involves heat-seeking toward the mother hen.
    • Bonding and behavioral development supported by hen's presence.
    • Post-weaning rejection occurs when chicks lose down feathers from their heads.

PLAY BEHAVIOR

Definition of Play

  • Play: Activity commonly seen in young mammals, facilitates physical fitness, environmental exploration, and social learning. Mimics adult behaviors through:
    • Object manipulation
    • Chasing
    • Non-injurious fighting
    • Acrobatics
    • Good health indicator and serves as practice.

Characteristics of Play Behavior

  • May contain sexual behavioral elements without breeding.
  • Typically structured, with a lack of anger or fear.
  • Spontaneous movements indicated by bursts of energy ('zoomies').
  • Environmental enrichment is vital for neurology and behavior development, with complexity correlated to brain size.
  • Gonadal hormones may stimulate surface area development.

Criteria for Identifying Play Behavior

  1. Not fully functional.
  2. Self-rewarding.
  3. Differs in structure/timing from adult forms.
  4. Repeated but not stereotypical.
  5. Occurs in a relaxed state.

Categories of Play

  1. Social Play: Directed at another animal/human.
  2. Locomotor-Rotational Play: Involves running and jumping.
  3. Object Play: Manipulation of inanimate objects.
    • Dogs: Prefer social play, cats: object play. Increased play behavior in adults relates to domestication. Livestock: primarily locomotor & social play.

Play Markers

  • Help differentiate between play and serious behaviors. Examples include:
    • Dog: Play-bow
    • Piglets: Head-tossing & pivoting.
  • Vocalization can indicate play but varies individually across species.

Species-Specific Play Behavior

  • Foals: Use teeth; no head-butting.
  • Calves: Engage in head-butting; do not utilize teeth.
  • Piglets: Engage in head up-thrusting.
  • Typically, males engage in play more often due to testosterone influence.

Play Behavior in Specific Species

  • Calves:
    • Play behaviors include prancing, kicking, pawing, and vocalizing.
  • Foals:
    • Engage in nipping, gripping, chasing, and learning through mutual grooming.
  • Piglets:
    • Activities include cheek-to-cheek fighting, chasing, and rooting.

REFERENCES

  • Jensen. The Ethology of Domestic Animals: An Introductory Text, 3rd Edition.
  • Broom & Fraser. Domestic Animal Behavior & Welfare, 5th Edition. (6th Edition Chapters 20 & 21).