animal behavior

• Animal behavior


  Response to changes in the internal and/or external environment
• Interest in animal behavior dates back tens of thousands of years
• Behavior has been important in humans' development and selection of domestic animals
• Interest in the study of livestock behavior grew around the middle of the 20th century
• Behavior of livestock received added attention after the development of large intensive systems of concentrated livestock production
• Animal behavior received more attention after emphasis was given to animal welfare issues
• Understanding animal behavior


  Can facilitate handling and improve handler safety and animal welfare
• Poor handling procedures


  Can increase stress which leads to decreased animal performance
• Stress can lead to lowered conception rates, reduced immune function, reduced digestive function, and early embryonic losses
• Why study animal behavior


  • Understanding behavior is essential for the well being of both man and animals
  • Anticipating response to a certain stimuli in any given situation- preventing injury to both
  • Safe handling of livestock and breeding animals
  • Proper facility design for improved animal welfare
• Why study animal behavior

  • Most animals are social beings
  • Must place yourself in the animals positon to evaluate the situation from their perspective
  • Animals are domesticated and adapted to humans and the environment provided
• Ethology


  The study of the behavior of animals in their natural surroundings, with its focus on instinctive or innate behavior
• Basic principles of animal behavior


  • Behavior occurs as a result of changes in the internal and/or external environment of the animal
  • Not all stimuli will elicit a response
  • Different range of vision and depth perception
  • Behavioral responses are not always predictable
• Areas of study in animal behavior

  • Communication
  • Aggression and social structure
  • Biological rhythms and sleep
  • Sexual behavior
  • Maternal behavior
  • Ingestive behavior
  • Eliminate behavior
• Communication


  • Animals communicate by visual, auditory, tactile, and olfactory means
  • Understanding communication includes understanding signals like position of ears and tail, general posture, hypervocalization, and marking behavior
• Vision


  • Livestock have wide angle vision- cattle, pigs, and sheep have visual field of approximately 300 degrees
  • Eyes on side of head for maximum vision
  • Different species have different visual capabilities and depth perceptions
• Auditory and Tactile


  • Most animals like to be touched
  • Regularly communicate via several sensory systems with members of their own species- using vocalizations and touch
• Olfactory


  • Relating to the sense of smell
  • Accessory olfactory organ- vomeronasal organ used to detect odors called pheromones
  • Flehmen response- curling of lip and lifting of head to smell urine of female
• Aggression and social structure


  • All animals have some form of aggressive behavior
  • Aggressive behaviors may revolve around survival needs like obtaining food, reproductive needs, securing place in social structure
  • Categories of aggression include dominance-related, territorial, pain-induced, fear-induced, maternal, and predatory aggression
• Biological rhythms and sleep


  • Detecting abnormal sleep and activity levels in domestic animals can be difficult due to changes that confinement and modern nutrition have brought to animals
  • Understanding circadian (24 hour cycles) and other rhythms helps us understand animal activity, sexual cycles, and physiological responses
• Sexual behavior


  • Males will become aggressive during breeding season or breeding time
  • Most livestock exhibit estrus or visible heat
  • Sow seeks out the boar, mares kick and stallions bite
• Maternal behavior


  • Study of bonding behavior between female and her offspring, mutual recognition, negligence or neglect by the female, nest building, nursing, weaning, and learned behavior
  • Lambing jug helps female to bond with newborn offspring
• Ingestive behavior


  • Studying the way animals consume feed and water has implications in animal management
  • Influenced by herd or flock behavior, palatability, environment, hormones, and meal patterns
• Eliminative behavior


  • Urination and defecation patterns differ across species
  • Elimination of waste is affected by stress
• Livestock behavior


  • Important to understand differences in livestock behavior to improve comfort and health, solve practical problems of production, facilitate handling and improve handler safety and animal welfare
• Companion animal behavior


  • Important to understand that companion animals are still animals and may be unpredictable outside of normal environment
  • Further study can improve diagnosis and treatment decisions, identify animals in need of intensive treatment, and reduce euthanasia due to problem behaviors
• Animal temperament


  • Characteristic behavior or mode of response
  • One determinant of how an animal will react during handling
  • Determined by an interaction between genetic effect and environmental factors
• Flight zone


  • The distance that an animal is caused to flee from an intruder
  • The animals "safety zone"
  • Understanding the flight zone can reduce animal stress and prevent accidents
• Factors affecting flight zone


  • Size of enclosure the animal is housed in, approaching animal at head seems to increase flight zone, size of zone diminishes when animals receive frequent, gentle handling
• Standing outside the flight zone causes the animal to stop moving, standing in the flight zone causes the animal to start moving, moving in front of the point of balance causes the animal to back up
• Herd animals


  • All livestock are herd animals, and they are likely to become highly agitated and stressed when separated from herd mates
  • The desire to be with the herd can be used to help move animals
  • Trained animals can be used to lead others through a handling facility
  • Groups of animals that have body contact remain calmer
• Livestock facility layout


  • Design of facility can influence animal response
  • Curved chutes and solid fences prevent animal from seeing what is at the other end of the chute until its almost there, taking advantage of animal's natural tendency to circle around a handler
• Handler dominance


  • Handlers can often control animals more efficiently if they exert dominance over the animal
  • Exerting dominance is using the animal's natural behavior to exert dominance, not beating an animal into submission
• Improved handling practices


  • Move small groups
  • Eliminate electric prods
  • Eliminate visual distractions
  • Reduce noise
  • Use handler movement patterns that take advantage of animal's following behavior
  • Avoid putting continuous pressure on animal's flight zone
  • Slow is faster
• Dr. Temple Grandin is a Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University, designer of livestock handling facilities, and nearly half of the cattle in North America are handled in systems that she designed for meat plants