Applicability of Five Diet-Selection Models to Various Foraging Challenges Ruminants Encounter

Provenza, Frederick D.; Balph, David F.

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-75118-9_22

Cited by 97 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 113 publications

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“…Similarly, when the vitamin E-enriched feed was flavoured with strawberry, which they initially preferred, it still took 8 days to establish a strong and consistent preference that continued to day 15 of preference testing. These results support the notion that ruminants do not instinctively detect the needed nutrients (or medicines) available in the feeds but they take time to learn about their feeds by associating the sensory properties of feeds with post-ingestive feedbacks (Provenza and Balph, 1990). The association, by animals, of post-ingestive effects with food flavours has been identified as a means through which herbivores learn about the consequences of feeds (Duncan and Young, 2002).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

“…It has been experimentally established that foraging behaviour is formed by two learning mechanisms: selflearning from experience and trial and error by relying on post-ingestive feedbacks and learning from peers or from the mother (Provenza and Balph, 1990). In this study, where sheep were confined in individual pens and social interactions between animals were restricted, the sheep had to learn about their feeds by themselves and this may have delayed their learning process.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sheep deficient in vitamin E preferentially select for a feed with a higher concentration of vitamin E

Amanoel

Thomas

Blache

et al. 2016

animal

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Given the capacity of ruminants to modify diet selection based on metabolic needs, we hypothesised that, when given a choice, lambs experiencing a vitamin E deficiency would consume more of a vitamin E-enriched feed than lambs not deficient in vitamin E. Fifty-six Dohne Merino lambs were divided into two groups and fed either a vitamin E-deficient diet over 40 days to induce low plasma vitamin E or a vitamin E-enriched diet to induce high plasma vitamin E. The lambs were then offered a choice of vitamin E-enriched and vitamin E-deficient pellets. For half of the animals, the enriched diet was paired with strawberry flavour and the deficient diet was paired with orange flavour, while the reverse pairings were offered to the others. Lamb preference for the diets was measured daily for the following 15 days. There was a three-way interaction between the high and low vitamin E treatment groups × vitamin E content and type of flavour in the feed × time (days). The lambs preferred pellets flavoured with strawberry but this preference changed to orange flavour in vitamin E-deficient lambs if the orange flavour was paired with high vitamin E. Lambs without a deficiency continued to prefer strawberry-flavoured pellets, regardless of the vitamin E concentrations in the pellets. It is possible that self-learning contributed to the low vitamin E group of lambs changing preference to orange flavour in order to consume more vitamin E, presumably to remediate the deficiency.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sheep deficient in vitamin E preferentially select for a feed with a higher concentration of vitamin E

Amanoel

Thomas

Blache

et al. 2016

animal

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“…Evolution of foraging strategies that optimise nutrient intake (Belovsky, 1978;Stephens and Krebs, 1986) and fixed rules of thumb such as 'eat tall green grass' or 'avoid bitter' have also been proposed as mechanisms underlying diet selection in herbivores (Cassini, 1994). However, the 'sodium model of nutritional wisdom' is not a particularly good exemplar for energy, protein, minerals and vitamins because animals do not instinctively recognise through oduor/taste all of these nutrients, nor do they necessarily recognise all of the various configurations of any particular nutrient (Provenza and Balph, 1990;Provenza and Villalba, 2006). Beyond the evolution of fixed codes or static rules of thumb, animals evolved learning mechanisms to cope with the frequent changes occurring in the internal and external environment.…”

Section: Behavioural Homeostasismentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-medication and homeostatic behaviour in herbivores: learning about the benefits of nature’s pharmacy

Villalba

Provenza

2007

Animal

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Traditional production systems have viewed animals as homogeneous 'machines' whose nutritional and medicinal needs must be provided in a prescribed manner. This view arose from the lack of belief in the wisdom of the body to meet its physiological needs. Is it possible for herbivores to select diets that meet their needs for nutrients and to write their own prescriptions? Our research suggests it is. Herbivores adapt to the variability of the external environment and to their changing internal needs not only by generating homeostatic physiological responses, but also by operating in the external environment. Under this view, food selection is interpreted as the quest for substances in the external environment that provide homeostatic utility to the internal environment. Most natural landscapes are diverse mixes of plant species that are literally nutrition centres and pharmacies with vast arrays of primary (nutrient) and secondary (pharmaceutical) compounds vital in the nutrition and health of plants and herbivores. Plant-derived alkaloids, terpenes, sesquiterpene lactones and phenolics can benefit herbivores by, for instance, combating internal parasites, controlling populations of fungi and bacteria, and enhancing nutrition. Regrettably, the simplification of agricultural systems to accommodate inexpensive, rapid livestock production, coupled with a view of secondary compounds as toxins, has resulted in selecting for a biochemical balance in forages favouring primary (mainly energy) and nearly eliminating secondary compounds. There is a global need to create a more sustainable agriculture, with less dependence on external finite resources, such as fossil fuels and their environmentally detrimental derivatives. Self-medication has the potential to facilitate the design of sustainable grazing systems to improve the quality of land as well as the health and welfare of animals. Understanding foraging as the dynamic quest to achieve homeostasis will lead to implementing management programs where herbivores have access not only to diverse and nutritious foods but also to arrays of medicinal plants.

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“…Experiences with food have life-long influences on diet, health and disease in humans and herbivores by causing neurological, morphological and physiological changes, which influence on foraging behavior (Provenza and Balph, 1990;Distel et al, 1994 and1996). By interacting with the genome during growth and development, social and biophysical environments influence gene expression and behavioral responses (LeDoux, 2002;Fish et al, 2004;Meaney, 2009).…”

Section: Foraging Behavior and Experience With Foodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Links between ruminants’ food preference and their welfare

Villalba

Provenza

Manteca

2010

Animal

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Nutrition is an important aspect of welfare, and in most recommendations for the welfare of animals adequate nutrition is a primary requirement. However, in intensive livestock production systems the decision for adequate nutrition is made based on traditional paradigms of feeding monotonous rations or plant monocultures, frequently with excesses or imbalances of nutrients relative to the individuals' physiology, which can compromise welfare. Individual ruminants can better meet their needs for nutrients and regulate their intake of secondary compounds when offered a variety of foods than when constrained to a single food, even if the food is nutritionally balanced. The concept of food variety is central because monotonous flavors and feeds and excess nutrients all cause animals to satiate, which in turn causes animals to eat a variety of foods. When offered a variety of foods, satiety for single foods stimulates the selection of a diverse diet and thus food intake, but when restricted to a monotonous diet satiety is aversive and limits food intake. Moreover, if a monotonous diet is aversive to animals then this could be stressful, even if monotony implies consuming a balanced diet. A diverse diet may also increase resistance to disease in ruminants, by allowing consumption of small amounts of compounds with antimicrobial/antiparasitic effects and immunity-enhancing properties. Herbivores also experience the benefits of ingesting compounds with medicinal (i.e. antiparasitic) benefits and they learn to prefer foods containing such compounds as their preferences are associatively conditioned by the food's homeostatic utility to the body. Such learned patterns of behavior begin in utero and feeding experiences early in life cause changes -neurological, morphological and physiological -in animals, which influence on their subsequent behavior and welfare. Such experiences with the environment enable animals to adapt to local diets and stressors and reduce the levels of fear. Finally, feeding behavior in farm animals could be an aid in the early detection and mitigation of pain or sickness, and as such become an important tool in the identification of welfare and health of animals before the appearance of clinical signs. Management strategies in ruminant production systems could benefit by allowing animals to manifest their feeding preferences, thereby acknowledging the animals' role as active players in feeding systems, instead of regarding them as passive entities that just respond to prescriptions and formulations.

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Applicability of Five Diet-Selection Models to Various Foraging Challenges Ruminants Encounter

Cited by 97 publications

References 113 publications

Sheep deficient in vitamin E preferentially select for a feed with a higher concentration of vitamin E

Sheep deficient in vitamin E preferentially select for a feed with a higher concentration of vitamin E

Self-medication and homeostatic behaviour in herbivores: learning about the benefits of nature’s pharmacy

Links between ruminants’ food preference and their welfare

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