Behavioral responses to short-term social isolation in sheep and goats

Price, Edward O.; Thos, J.

doi:10.1016/0304-3762(80)90133-9

Cited by 93 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…It might however be that the isolation component is so important for this species that it provokes the fear response [101]. For poultry the novel arena test has a high validity, whereas for pigs the results are conflicting.…”

Section: Concluding Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…For sheep, as for all the other species the reaction of the animals to the novel arena test is a mixture of the reaction to the physical situation itself, and social isolation. The strong reaction of sheep to isolation in their home pens makes it probable that a large part of the reactions observed in the novel arena tests are caused by the social isolation rather than the new environment [101,110]. As for other species it seems that it is the number of vocalizations that is most affected by the presence/absence of conspecifics (e.g.…”

Section: Validitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is however a very large difference in the number of variables used with e.g. [100] recording 26 variables whereas [101] only recorded three variables.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A critical review of fear tests used on cattle, pigs, sheep, poultry and horses

Forkman¹,

Boissy

Meunier-Salaün

et al. 2007

Physiology & Behavior

741

626

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FORKMAN, B., A., BOISSY, M.-C., SALAÜN, E., CANALI, AND R.B., JONES. A critical review of fear tests used on cattle, pigs, sheep, poultry and horses. PHYSIOL. BEHAV. 000-000, 2007. Fear is arguably the most commonly investigated emotion in domestic animals. In the current review we attempt to establish the level of repeatability and validity found for fear tests used on cattle, pigs, sheep and goats, poultry and horses. We focus the review on the three most common types of fear tests: the arena test (open field), the novel object test, and the restraint test. For some tests, e.g. tonic immobility in poultry, there is a good and broad literature on factors that affect the outcome of the test, the validity of the test and its age dependency. However, there are comparatively few of these well defined and validated tests and what is especially missing for most tests is information on the robustness, i.e., what aspects can be changed without affecting the validity of the tests. The relative absence of standardized tests hampers the development of applied ethology as a science.

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Section: Concluding Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Validitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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A critical review of fear tests used on cattle, pigs, sheep, poultry and horses

Forkman¹,

Boissy

Meunier-Salaün

et al. 2007

Physiology & Behavior

741

626

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The Frustration situation was therefore considered as negative for the goats, because this situation would (in the wild at least) threaten fitness through the lack of food intake. Finally, isolation (even during a short period) for social herd-living animals such as goats can be stressful (Price & Thos, 1980;Siebert et al, 2011). Consequently, we considered the Isolation situation to be also negative for goats, because it could potentially threaten fitness through greater exposure to predators.…”

Section: Determination Of Arousal Levels and Valence Of The Situationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotions in goats: mapping physiological, behavioural and vocal profiles

2015

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Keywords: acoustic communication arousal Capra hircus positive emotions ungulates valence vocal analysisEmotions are important because they enable the selection of appropriate behavioural decisions in response to external or internal events. Techniques for understanding and assessing animal emotions, and particularly positive ones, are lacking. Emotions can be characterized by two dimensions: their arousal (bodily excitation) and their valence (negative or positive). Both dimensions can affect emotions in different ways. It is thus crucial to assess their effects on biological parameters simultaneously, so that accurate indicators of arousal and valence can be identified. To find convenient and noninvasive tools to assess emotions in goats, Capra hircus, we measured physiological, behavioural and vocal responses of goats in four situations: (1) control (no external stimulus, neutral); (2) anticipation of a food reward (positive); (3) food-related frustration (negative); (4) isolation away from conspecifics (negative). These situations were characterized by different levels of arousal, assessed a posteriori by heart rates measured during the tests. We found several clear, reliable indicators of arousal and valence. During situations of higher arousal, goats had lower heart rate variability and higher respiration rates. They displayed more head movements, moved more, had their ears pointed forwards more often and on the side (horizontal) less often and produced more calls. They also produced calls with higher fundamental frequencies and higher energy distribution. In positive situations, goats had their ears oriented backwards less often and spent more time with their tails up than in negative situations. Furthermore, they produced calls in which the fundamental frequencies were less variable. Our methods for assessing the effects of emotional arousal and valence on biological parameters could lead to more effective monitoring and understanding of animal emotions, as well as to a better understanding of the evolution of emotions through cross-species comparisons.

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“…All lambs were individually subjected to three fear-eliciting situations classically reported to induce fear in sheep: isolation from conspecifics, surprise effect combined with presentation of a novel object, and the presence of a human (Bouissou & Vandenheede, 1995;Cockram, Ranson, Imlah, Goddard, Burrells, & Harkiss, 1994;Le Neindre et al, 1993;Price & Thos, 1980;Romeyer & Bouissou, 1992;. The methodology we chose in this study was developed and validated for adult sheep by Romeyer and Bouissou (1992) and by .…”

Section: Fear-eliciting Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Responses of weaned lambs to fear‐eliciting situations: Origin of individual differences

Viérin

Bouissou

2003

Developmental Psychobiology

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The aims of this study were 1) to develop methods of objectively measuring fear in weaned lambs, and 2) to evaluate the effects of age, sex, breed, and rearing conditions on fear reactions. Four hundred forty-one lambs, aged 3 to 6 months, were submitted to three fear-eliciting situations (isolation, surprise effect, and human presence). Factor analysis revealed a first factor, interpreted in terms of fear, that accounted for 40% of total variance in the three tests. As in adult sheep, the main signs of fear were inhibition of feeding, long distance from the frightening stimulus, frequent immobilizations, and numerous high-pitch bleats. Behavior was also influenced by differences in general locomotor activity and exploratory motivation. Fear reactions were influenced by age (3- to 4-month-old lambs more fearful than 5- to 6-month-old), sex (females more fearful than males), breed (Romanov more fearful than Ile-de-France), and rearing conditions (artificial vs. maternal: almost no influence in males and influence in females depending on age). These results with sheep provide interesting theoretical and practical perspectives to the study of fearfulness.

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Behavioral responses to short-term social isolation in sheep and goats

Cited by 93 publications

References 6 publications

A critical review of fear tests used on cattle, pigs, sheep, poultry and horses

A critical review of fear tests used on cattle, pigs, sheep, poultry and horses

Emotions in goats: mapping physiological, behavioural and vocal profiles

Responses of weaned lambs to fear‐eliciting situations: Origin of individual differences

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