The effects of group size during pregnancy (12 or 24 sows) and introduction methods on behaviour in multi-suckling pens were studied. The introduction methods were: A) (control) all sows and piglets were moved simultaneously to the multi-suckling pen on day 11 after farrowing; B) sows and piglets were moved simultaneously on day 14 after farrowing; C) sows were moved simultaneously and, two hours later, all piglets were moved simultaneously on day 11 after farrowing; D) each sow and her litter were moved separately at three-hours intervals on day 11 after farrowing. The effects of group size during pregnancy interacted with the effects of introduction method. When housed in groups of 12 during pregnancy, treatments B-D resulted in more initiated, but fewer successful nursings compared to A. However, when sows had been housed in groups of 24 during pregnancy, increased age (B) resulted in a decreased number of initiated nursings compared to A, but an increased nursing synchrony. The results indicate that it is possible to affect behaviour in multi-suckling pens through the social environment during pregnancy and by the choice of introduction method. 相似文献
The starfish Marthasterias glacialis is a generalized predator, feeding particularly on Choromytilus meridionalis, but also on several limpets, notably Patella longicosta. Thais dubia (Gastropoda) feeds mainly on barnacles, mussels, and Patella granulans. The gastropods Burnupena delalandii and B. cincta are principally scavengers, feeding on damaged or dead animals. The responses of Patella spp. to these predators are described. P. granulans, P. concolor, P. compressa and P. miniata all retreat rapidly on contact. Small P. granatina and P. oculus respond similarly, but larger specimens react aggressively, smashing their shells downwards and often damaging the predator. The territorial species (P. longicosta, P. cochlear and P. tabularis) all retreat to their scars and remain clamped there. P. argenvillei and P. tabularis are usually unresponsive, possibly because they are too large to fall prey. Cellana capensis rolls its mantle upwards to cover the shell, preventing predators from attaching. The responses and their effectiveness are discussed in relation to other behavioural patterns displayed by limpets. There is no correlation between the intensity of a prey’s response to a predator and the degree of contact between the two in the field. 相似文献
Diurnal birds generally sleep during the hours of darkness. Most male southern African sunbirds have pectoral tufts, although the function of these is not always understood. We examined nocturnal tuft display in male malachite sunbirds (Nectarinia famosa) and found that they display their pectoral tufts almost continuously throughout the night, whilst asleep. We suggest the possible function of this behaviour and suggest that these tufts might be a deterrent to predators, as they look like ‘eyes’ in the dark. A review of the use and occurrence of pectoral tufts in southern African sunbird species is also discussed. We suggest the ‘anti-predator’ hypothesis be investigated further.相似文献
1. The objective of this study was to investigate the association of using a multi-tier aviary system and access to range on flock uniformity in free-range laying hens, and to determine whether the extent of range use or flock uniformity can be predicted from the use of different levels of the aviary system.
2. A total of 13,716 Lohmann Brown hens from five commercial free-range flocks housed in identical houses on the same farm were individually weighed at 16 weeks of age and allocated to five replicate areas within each house. Hen movement in the multi-tier aviary system and on the range was individually monitored using radio frequency identification (RFID). All hens had access to the range from 18 to 22 weeks of age and were exposed to the same management conditions.
3. Whilst only one flock significantly changed its flock uniformity with time, they differed from each other in uniformity and body weight (P = 0.001).
4. Hens spent most of their available time on the lower aviary tier (7.29 ± 0.029 h/hen/day) and on the upper aviary tier (4.29 ± 0.024 h/hen/day) while the least amount of time was spent on the range and in the nest boxes (0.93 ± 0.005 h/hen/day and 1.48 ± 0.007 h, respectively, P = 0.001).
5. Range use was negatively correlated (r = ?0.30) to the time spent on the upper aviary tier and positively correlated (r = 0.46) to the time spent on the lower aviary tier (P = 0.001). Bivariate analysis revealed that range and upper aviary resp. lower aviary tier usage had a significant curvilinear association.
6. In conclusion, the study showed that range use was associated to the time hens spent on the different tiers of the aviary system. Flock uniformity varied between flocks but was not associated with either range and aviary system usage.
Tree dwelling bats select cavities in large, old, dying or dead trees. This inevitably brings them into direct conflict with the interests of forest managers, who are trained to fell such trees. Therefore the identification of forest stands providing optimal roosting opportunities for bats is crucial, in order to provide appropriate guidelines for forest management. It is also important to identify the extent to which the roosting ecology of bats changes in response to habitat modification. Bia?owie?a Forest (BF) offers a unique opportunity, in the temperate zone, to observe differences between areas with no direct human intervention and managed areas and in particular to reveal the effect of forest management on the roosting ecology of forest dwelling bat species. We used GIS techniques to evaluate bats’ spatial response to changes in forest structure and to test the hypotheses that the forest dwelling bats Nyctalus noctula and Nyctalus leisleri prefer roost sites within old deciduous or wet woodlands over young and coniferous ones and that roost site preferences reflect the extent to which dead and dying trees are removed. There was a significant difference in the selection of roosting habitat between the managed and pristine areas of the forest. Within the pristine forest, both species displayed a strong preference for roost trees located within old deciduous stands (>100 years), whereas in the managed part of the forest old wet woodland was preferred while all medium and young forest stands were avoided. Our data reveal a high degree of lability in the selection of roosting habitat by bats. It appears that bats are able to respond to changes in their environment by changing their roost site preferences and could therefore occupy habitat previously considered less suitable. 相似文献
Clinical tail-biters were identified over a 12-month period at a commercial nucleus pig-breeding farm that had a history of tail-biting problems. The breed, gender, and relative size of the tail-biters were recorded. Using pedigree data for all the pigs on the farm at the time of observations, the heritability of the tail-biting behaviour was estimated for purebred Large White (LW) and Landrace (LR) pigs. The incidence of tail-biting was 2.8% for Large White and 3.5% for Landrace (breed effects, P<0.10). Tail-biting was found to be heritable in Landrace (h2=0.05±0.02, P<0.05 as a 0-1 trait, equivalent to h2=0.27 as a continuous trait), but not heritable in Large White pigs (h2=0.00±0.00, as a 0-1 trait). In the Landrace population, tail-biting was unfavourably genetically correlated with leanness [lean tissue growth rate (LTGR; rg=0.27, P<0.05), and back fat (BF) thickness at 90 kg (rg=−0.28, P<0.05)]. It is concluded that past selection for desirable production traits may have resulted in increased predisposition to exhibit tail-biting behaviour. From the correlations and covariance matrix reported, it would be possible to develop a selection index to reduce the predisposition to exhibit tail-biting behaviour through selective breeding. 相似文献
In a two-period replicated crossover design, four groups of lactating Holstein Friesian dairy cows (n = 10 per group) were kept on pasture to investigate the effects of providing artificial shade in summer on their vaginal temperature, behaviour and milk production. Two groups had access to shade and two groups in adjacent paddocks had no shade for a 10-day period before the treatments were switched. The body temperature rhythm was recorded in all animals using vaginal data loggers. Daily milk yield and milk composition was measured for each cow. Standing without grazing, lying and grazing behaviour was recorded continuously by observers for two 24-h periods during each 10-day treatment period. Shade use was recorded daily from 0800 to 2000 h. The provision of shade reduced (P < 0.05) mean vaginal temperature. This was particularly evident between 1000 and 1500 h, when the increase in vaginal temperature was significantly (P < 0.001) lower in shaded cows compared to cows without shade. No effect of shade (P > 0.05) on the maximum and minimum vaginal temperature, or the amplitude of the vaginal temperature rhythm was found. Cows with access to shade preferred (P < 0.001) using it mainly during the mid-afternoon, while, in contrast, cows with no shade grazed more (P < 0.001) at this time. The total time spent grazing, standing without grazing and lying per 24 h did not differ (P > 0.05) between treatments. Milk production was higher (P < 0.05) in cows that had access to shade compared to those without, but milk composition was not affected (P > 0.05) by shade treatment. These data suggest that the provision of shade is an effective method to reduce heat load in dairy cows under New Zealand summer conditions and, in addition, may increase daily milk yield. Despite only mild summer conditions, vaginal temperature was elevated during the mid-afternoon in non-shaded cows but did not cause a significant disruption in the underlying circadian body temperature rhythm compared to shaded cows. 相似文献
This study examined the effect of two different methods of analgesia on behavioural responses to velvet antler removal in red deer. Specifically, behaviour during the first 7 h after antler removal using compression (C, latex band around the pedicle) or lignocaine (L, 2% lignocaine hydrochloride) analgesia was compared with controls (R, restraint only).
The frequencies of ear flicking, tongue flicking, yawning, head shaking, grooming and scratching were all higher following antler removal (C + L) than restraint only (P < 0.05). The only overall difference between analgesia methods was for head rubbing which was higher after antler removal with L than with C (P = 0.05). There were differences between compression and lignocaine in the hourly pattern of behavioural changes following antler removal. On an hourly basis, ear flicking was higher in C than L at hour two (P = 0.006) then higher in L than C at hours six and seven (P < 0.01). Tongue flicking was higher in C than L at hour one (P < 0.05). Grooming and yawning were higher in L than C at hour one (P < 0.05) and head rubbing was higher in L than C at hour six (P < 0.01). Agonistic behaviour was higher in R at hour three (P < 0.05). There were no differences in scratching, standing, walking, stepping, running, eating and lying between groups, however; all showed a time trend (P < 0.01). Eating peaked at 3 h, lying showed the main increase throughout the period, although there was also an increase in running in the last 2 h. Panting, standing, stepping and walking all decreased with time.
In summary, behavioural indications of pain or irritation increased following antler removal with analgesia and had mostly disappeared by 7 h. The hourly pattern of behavioural changes following antler removal indicate differences in the time course of pain or irritation between methods of analgesia. Overall behavioural differences between animals receiving either compression or lignocaine analgesia provide little evidence for a difference in post-surgical welfare between these two methods. 相似文献
Residual metabolizable energy intake (RMEI) is the difference between metabolizable energy intake (MEI) and predicted production and maintenance requirements. In growing pigs from three genetic lines, namely Genex Meishan-derived dam line (GM), Synthetic Genex 3000 (SG) and purebred Large White (LW), RMEI was determined and related to behaviour by factorial Partial Least Squares analysis. Behaviour was measured by observations of daily behaviour in the pen, postures, feeding behaviour, aggressive behaviour after mixing and ease of handling at weighing. The RMEI obtained for the GM pigs was lower (P = 0.003) than that of the two other lines studied (LW and SG). This difference may result from inaccuracy in the estimation of requirements. A small proportion of these differences were explained by differences in behaviour. Indeed, standing posture, time spent in the feeder, toy manipulation, aggressive and locomotor behaviour explained part of the variation in RMEI, presumably because an increase in these physical activities induces higher energy expenditure. Vocalisations during manipulations at weighing were the only behaviour related to stress that influenced RMEI. 相似文献
