Understanding Animal Behavior

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Understanding Animal Behavior

• Topic 3037
• Alyson Wilson

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What is Behavior?
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Behavior is...

• According to Webster...
• a Conduct or Action
• In animals, the individual and group actions that
  take place in order for them to live and function
  in their environment
• Ethology is the study of animal behavior

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What is Anthropomorphism?
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Anthropomorphism is

• Attributing human characteristics to animals
• Projecting human emotions onto animals (I.e. the
  bull is mad, someone made him angry)
• Note
• Need to make sure we record is what we observe
  objectively
• Interpret results later

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Animal Behaviors

• Nest building (Sows)
• Mating Behavior
• Postpartum Behavior
• Environmental Comfort
• Social Behavior

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Nest Building

• 3 Days prior to labor, sow spends majority of
  time eating and sleeping
• Sow will start nest building as labor gets closer
• Sow will try to clean and dry an area and will
  chew long grass/straw to provide bedding

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Nest Building Cont...

• Sow may change nest area more than once
• Pawing activities occur
• Sow may resist human intervention regarding nest
  bedding
• Time will vary with each sow but all will utilize
  dry bedding material

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Mating Behavior

• Threat Displays (Males)
• Bulls
• Arching of the neck
• Protrusion of eyeballs
• Erection of hair along their back
• Pawing the ground
• Turning of the shoulder toward threatened animal

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Mating Behavior Cont...

• Threat Displays Cont
• Stallions
• Rearing on hind legs
• Laying back of ears Rams
• Rams
• Vigorous stamping of forefoot
• Nudging

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Mating Behavior Cont...

• Estrus Behavior
• Cows
• Increased excitability
• Licking
• Mounting other females
• Ewes
• Difficult to see unless with a ram
• If ram present, will seek out his company and
  stay with him

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Mating Behavior Cont...

• Estrus Behavior Cont...
• Sows
• Pressure on sows back causes her to stand
• Sow becomes restless when enclosed
• Ears may be laid close to head, turned up and
  backwards and held stiffly

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Postpartum Behavior

• Mares
• Mare will often lie exhausted for 20-30 minutes
• Mares do not eat afterbirth, but will groom foals

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Postpartum Behavior Cont...

• Cows
• Cow will lick her own urine discharge
• Cow will rest and then clean her calf
• Cow will usually eat the placenta

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Postpartum Behavior Cont...

• Ewes and Does
• Ewes and Does eat entire afterbirth
• Recognition of ewe/lamb and doe/kid is very
  important
• Rejection may occur if young is taken away after
  birth and returned later

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Postpartum Behavior Cont...

• Ewes and Does Cont
• Critical time period can be as little as 1 hour
• Management practices
• Encouraging an orphaned lamb to be adopted
• Rubbing afterbirth on orphan
• Skinning a dead lamb (of foster ewe)

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Postpartum Behavior Cont...

• Sows
• Sows pay little attention to young until last one
  is born
• Sows will eat part or all of afterbirth unless
  removed
• Sow will call litter to suck using short repeated
  grunts

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Postpartum Behavior Cont...

• Sows Cont
• Sow may emit barking grunts if disturbed by an
  intruder
• Sows rarely lick or groom young
• Sows may also crush their young with sudden
  movements

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Environmental Comfort

• Discomfort Behavior
• Feather picking and cannibalism in poultry
• Tail Biting and ear chewing in swine
• Too Cold
• Huddle together/pile up

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Environmental Comfort Cont...

• Too Hot
• Cattle and sheep seek shady areas
• Pigs seek wet areas to lie in

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Social Behavior

• Males fight unfamiliar males
• Cows, sows, and mares develop a pecking order and
  fight less intensely
• Ewes seldom fight

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Social Behavior Cont...

• Social order in cow herds are influenced by
• age, size, strength, horns (if any), and
  experience
• Once social order is established in cow herd it
  will remain the same for years
• Pigs develop a social order at birth

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Social Behavior Cont...

• Closely confined pigs have some difficulty
  establishing a social order
• Pecking order in chickens is found in feeding,
  nesting and roosting
• low-status birds get less feed and eat early in
  the morning and later at dusk