Social behavior

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Social behavior

• ANS 305

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My lecture

• Will discuss some basic information on aspects of
  social behavior
• Will present some results from our work looking
  at the impact of feeder design on some aspects of
  social behavior

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Origins of Social Behavior(Broom, 1981)

• Approach and join groups because they have
  probably found food
• Predator approaches, get in the middle of the
  group
• Stay in group because early warning by others can
  be used
• Food depleted, one individual leaves, follow it
  for it may know where to find more food
• Parental care increases survival chances of
  offspring

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Individual recognition

• Social stability
• Parent and offspring interactions
• Avoid inbreeding
• Mate choice
• Major histocompatibility complex (MHC)
• Maximizing diversity in immunological
  responsiveness

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Olfactory communication

• Pheromones
• Flehmen
• Urine marking
• territory
• own body
• Anal gland secretion
• Sebaceous skin glands
• Saliva

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Stable Social Structures

• Communication
• Vocalization
• Visual display
• Physical contact
• Chemical communication

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Stable Social Structures

• Reduced aggression
• Display
• Threat behavior
• Submissive behavior

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Social organization

• Dogs may occupy and defend a territory. Males,
  females and juvenile have distinct social order

Lorenz, 1953
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Social organization
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Social organization

• Cats spend most of time alone. Females may
  defend a territory.

Leyhausen, 1982
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Stable Social Structures

• Social recognition
• Optimal group size
• Sub groups may be formed
• Memory of social encounters
• Visual
• Olfactory
• Combination

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Some terms used to describe social behavior

• Social facilitation
• Social order
• Size
• Presence of weapons
• Territoriality
• Temperament
• Alliances
• Sex
• e.g. teat order in piglets

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Social Organization (Fraser Broom, 1990)

• Physical Structure of the territory
  (enclosure)
• Social Structure
• Group Cohesion (kinship alliances)

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Social organization

• Social strategies

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Social organization

• Social strategies

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HS
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2 3 4 5 6 7
LS
7 to 31
32 33 34 35 36 37
NS
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Social organization

• Sows were divided into three groups
• HS High success in agonistic interactions
• LS Low success in agonistic interactions
• NS Now success in agonistic interactions

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Social organization

• In natural settings, female pigs live in groups
  of 4-6 (related animals) and their offspring.
  Males may form a temporary bond with the family
  unit (Mauget, 1985 Wood-Gush and Stolba).
• Olfactory and visual signaling are important in
  maintaining social stability

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Challenges

• The majority of pregnant sows are kept in
  gestating crates
• High levels of unresolved aggressive interactions
  may occur (Broom, Mendl Zanella, 1996)
• The concentration of environmental contaminants
  (e.g. ammonia) may interfere with olfactory
  memory (Mendl personal communication)

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Challenges..

• Maternal deprivation stress, at an early age, may
  alter social memory (Yuan et al. 1999)

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Social organization

• Stallions related to a group of mares in a very
  stable way (harem). Non-breeding males may form
  bachelor groups.
• Testosterone levels are, oftentimes, below the
  level of detection in stallions living in a
  bachelor group. Acceptance into a group of
  mares is related to an instantaneous rise in
  testosterone and changes in behavior (McDonnell,
  1997).
• Stallions are not territorial.

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Challenges

• In some commercial farms horses are housed in
  individual stalls, with restrict social contact
• Housing stallions in close proximity may cause a
  decrease in reproductive performance

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Social Organization

• Male donkeys may defend a territory and try to
  attract females
• Vocalizations (primarily)
• Male donkeys are territorial

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Social Organization

• Female grouping is observed in sheep, goats
  cattle. During non-breeding season males may form
  bachelor groups. Social grooming is an
  important feature of cattle social behavior

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Social organization

• Hens and cocks have separate peck orders. They
  are territorial.
• Social unit dominant cock, 4 to 6 hens, pullets
  and several subordinate males

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Large Round Bale Feeder Design Affects the
Occurrence of Aggressive Interactions in Beef Cows

• L.M. Korzun, D. D. Buskirk, T. M. Harrigan, D. R.
  Hawkins, and A. J. Zanella
• Michigan State University

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The Problem

• Feed is the greatest expense for wintering beef
  cattle in Michigan
• estimated 377.99/cow with 100/cow forage costs
• (MSU-IRM-SPA 1998)
• Majority of hay is fed in large round bales
• (Michigan Beef Cow Calf Survey- MSU AES 1991)
• Observations suggest a difference in hay wastage
  between different feeder designs

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Hypothesis

• Round bale feeder design affects social and
  feeding behavior of cattle.

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Objective

• To examine the impact of round bale feeder design
  on the behavior of cattle

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Methods

• 80 non-lactating beef cows separated by weight
  and weight range into 4- 19.5m x 18m pens
• Each pen contained one of 4 feeders placed under
  video surveillance cameras
• feeders were rotated after day 7
• Ad libitum hay offered, refused hay from each
  feeder collected and weighed daily

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Methods- Feeder Types
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Methods- Behavioral Sampling

• Data collected in 5 minute samples
• 8am-5pm, 30 minute intervals
• Check sheet
• continuous observation for frequencies
• instantaneous sampling for cattle numbers
• 190 segments total were decoded for behaviors
• frequency of aggressive interactions
• transitions in/out of feeder
• data analyzed using the SAS program

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Definitions

• Aggression - animal threatens or attempts to
  remove another animal from the feeder or vicinity
• In feeder - animal places head in designated slat
  of feeder
• Out of feeder - animal removes head from
  designated slat in feeder

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Results

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Results
a
ab
Different Superscripts have Plt 0.05
b
c
c
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Results
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Conclusions

• Round bale feeder design has an impact on cattle
  behavior.
• Cows feeding from Trailer and Cradle feeders
  showed a greater number of aggressive
  interactions than cows fed at round feeders.
• Cows feeding from Trailer and Cradle feeders had
  a higher frequency of transitions in/out of
  feeder than cows fed at round feeders.

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Discussion

• Why is difference in behavior related to feeder
  design?
• Animal vulnerability
• Body contact and opportunity to escape
• Feeding height
• Can we use behavior to design a better feeder?
• More research to come...