Definitions
What is animal behaviour
How an animal reacts to stimuli in the environment or a physiological change
What is domestication?
Process where animals adapt to living with humans and in the environment humans provide for them
What are the 5 things on Hales list
Group structure
Sexual behaviour
Parent-young behaviour
Response to humans
Other behavioural characteristics
What are the favourable and unfavourable things about group structure?
Fav - Larger social groups, hierarchical group structure, males and females living together
Unfav - Family groupings, territorial structure, males living separate from females
What are the types of play behaviour?
Solitary - manipulative play and locomotor play
Social - Non contact play, and contact play
colts play more than fillies
What is social behaviour?
Forming co-operative and interdependent relationships - social behaviour is comprised of those patterns of behaviour that involve two or more members of a species and include aggression and spacing, reproduction, parental care or aid related behaviour and social organization
When were dogs domesticated? other farms animals?
Dogs - about 14000 years ago
Farm animals - about 8000-12000 years ago
What is the difference between wild and feral?
Wild - have not been previously domesticated
Feral - were domesticated and returned to the wild
What are the favourable and unfavourable things about sexual behaviour?
Fav - promiscuous mating, males dominate over females, sexual signals given by movements of posture
unfav - pair bond matings, males must work to establish dominance over females, sexual signals given by colour marking or other morphological structure
What 3 things does good welfare encompass?
The animal feels well, functions well, and can rely on natural abilities to adapt
the five freedoms incorporates all three aspects
What is ethology?
The scientific and objective study of animal behaviour, its causation and function, especially under natural conditions
What environmental change 30000 years ago led to domestication
the ice age glaciers melted
What are the different horse terminologys
Stallion - sexually mature male
Mare - sexually mature female
Foal - immature young
Colt - immature male young
Filly - Immature female young
What are the favourable and unfavourable things about parent-young interaction?
Fav - critical period in development of species bond, female accepts other young soon after parturition or hatching, precocial young
unfav - species bond established based on species characteristics, young accepted on basis of species characteristics, altricial young
What three things allow us to implement the five freedoms?
Laws/regulations
Codes of practice
Audits-packer, producer
What is applied ethology?
Behaviour of domestic animals
includes farm animals, but also zoo animals and pets
What four things helped humans control animals?
Herding
Hunting/slaughter
Hobbling
Castration
What are Przewalskis horse?
Subspecies of wild horse Equus ferus
Central Asia
Near extinction, then bred in captivity and reintroduced to a park in mongolia
never been domesticated
What are the favourable and unfavourable things about response to humans?
fav - Short flight distance, humans and environmental changes not upsetting
unfav - long flight distance, easily upset by humans or changes to their environment
What are input based standards in a welfare assessment?
System based - stocking density, alley width, ramp angle, written procedures
- pro: easy to verify
- con: may not result in good welfare
inflexible - is based on the "average" animal
Why is it important to look at animal ethology and behaviour?
different from most classical sciences - cannot be explained only by the simplest mechanism involved
Multidisciplinary - not only one component - includes physiology, psychology, neuroscience, evolutionary and developmental biology
What was the role of behaviour in domestication?
Relationship between humans and animals were important
Animals that are more docile generally have a better relationship - docility was the most important behavioural factor in domestication
What are the family groupings of przewalskis horses
One stallion, 1-3 mares and their offspring
maintain long term relationships
mares form dominance hierarchies inside the herd
offspring stay with the herd until independent
Males not in family groups form "bachelor groups"
Mares reject foals other than their own
What are the favourable and unfavourable things about other behavioural characteristics?
Fav - omnivorous, adaptable to environments, limited agility
unfav - special dietary requirements, specific habitat, extreme agility
What are outcome based standards in a welfare assesment
Animal based: behaviour, illness, injury
- pros: measures are relevant, important
- cons: subjective measures, time consuming
More flexible for the producer