Relationships between temperament, feeding behaviour, social interactions, and stress in lambs adapting to a feedlot environment

Rice, Maxine; Butler, K. L.; Hemsworth, P.H.

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2016.07.006

Cited by 18 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Several authors have reported individual variability in physiological stress responses in cattle (e.g. Loerch and Fluharty, 1999;Eitam et al, 2010) and lambs (Rice et al, 2016b) when introduced to a feedlot. Lambs with a high cortisol response during the 1 st week in this new environment were also more reactive during isolation and restraint tests and had a greater number of feeding bouts likely due to a high number of displacements.…”

Section: Exploring the Feeding Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review: Individual variability in feeding behaviour of domesticated ruminants

Neave

Weary

Keyserlingk

2018

Animal

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Individual animals behave differently from one another, especially when confronting challenges such as changes in diet (e.g. weaning), environment (e.g. moving from pasture to feedlot) and social grouping (e.g. movement to lactating group after parturition). Each of these challenges involves some element of novelty, impacting the welfare and productivity of the animal. Indeed, the large individual variability in the development and expression of feeding behaviour cannot be fully explained by differences in genetics, management practices, body size or growth rate. In this review we outline evidence that individual variability in feeding behaviour is associated with the personality of the individual. We focus on three key personality traits: exploration, fear or reactivity and sociability. Individuals differ in how much they explore their feeding environment, with more exploratory individuals being less reactive to novel situations. Feeding behaviour can be impaired in individuals that are especially reactive to a change in their environment, change in diet or handling or restraint by humans. The social environment is also a major factor affecting how individuals express their behaviour. Sociability of the individual, including dominant-subordinate and affiliative relationships, affects how individuals make foraging decisions, gain access to feed and adopt particular social strategies to maintain or adjust feeding patterns when the social environment changes. Personality traits such as exploration, boldness and sociability also affect the use of social information when learning where, how or what to eat. Our review highlights the implications of feeding behaviour variability for the welfare and productivity of the individual, and how an understanding of personality can help tailor management to the needs of the individual.

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Section: Exploring the Feeding Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review: Individual variability in feeding behaviour of domesticated ruminants

Neave

Weary

Keyserlingk

2018

Animal

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“…Lambs feeding in indoor systems are exposed to a number of stressors such as frequent human contact, floor space restrictions, mixing of unfamiliar animals, and feeding space restrictions (Rice and others ), whereas in extensive feeding systems the stressors are associated with the physical activity to find food, the fluctuations in nutritional value of pastures and the weather. Lambs grazing also spend more time eating forage and ruminating and also tend to rest less than lambs fed in indoor systems (Aguayo‐Ulloa and others ).…”

Section: Lamb Behavior and Physical Activity In Different Production mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Extensive Feeding Systems on Growth Rate, Carcass Traits, and Meat Quality of Finishing Lambs

Brito

Ponnampalam

Hopkins

2016

Comp Rev Food Sci Food Safe

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This review aims to summarize the relevant published information about the effects of extensive feeding systems on the carcass and meat quality characteristics of lambs. Lambs finished in a feedlot or with supplementation under extensive systems exhibit faster growth rates, achieve target weights quicker, and produce heavier carcass weights when compared to grazing lambs. However, the literature also shows that finishing lambs on high-quality pasture can produce satisfactory growth rates without compromising carcass and meat quality traits. Lately, the consumer demand for products perceived as "healthy" and that are produced where animal welfare is optimal under systems which do not impact negatively on the environment, has heightened the interest in lamb production under extensive systems. Lambs raised on pasture can meet many of these specifications. Also, lambs fed higher quality green pasture can produce meat with greater amounts of health-claimable omega-3 fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic acid plus docosahexaenoic acid than feeding systems based on feedlot pellets, grain, or dry pasture/straw. It is apparent that in some previous published research, the number of animals allocated for each treatment, and the lack of replicates, makes it difficult to formulate a correct understanding of the effect of forages on lamb carcass and meat quality. Future research should concentrate on the effect of legume, improved pasture, and specialized forage finishing systems on growth rate, carcass traits, and nutritional value of meat using well-designed experiments with an adequate number of lambs and appropriate paddock replicates per treatment.

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“…Feeding and standing behaviors were accurately estimated using a 5-min interval. In a feedlot environment, sheep reportedly feed for short bouts (0.5 min in this study and 1.8-3.8 min in the study of Rice et al [2016b]) for a small proportion of the day (9.8% in this study and 6.7% in the study of Aguayo-Ulloa et al [2014]). These findings are similar to those of previous studies with dairy calves and cows that concluded a 5-min interval was the longest interval to accurately estimate feeding behavior (Miller-Cushon and DeVries, 2011;Chen et al, 2016).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 59%

Technical note: Instantaneous sampling intervals validated from continuous video observation for behavioral recording of feedlot lambs1

Pullin

Pairis‐Garcia

Campbell

et al. 2017

Journal of Animal Science

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When considering methodologies for collecting behavioral data, continuous sampling provides the most complete and accurate data set whereas instantaneous sampling can provide similar results and also increase the efficiency of data collection. However, instantaneous time intervals require validation to ensure accurate estimation of the data. Therefore, the objective of this study was to validate scan sampling intervals for lambs housed in a feedlot environment. Feeding, lying, standing, drinking, locomotion, and oral manipulation were measured on 18 crossbred lambs housed in an indoor feedlot facility for 14 h (0600-2000 h). Data from continuous sampling were compared with data from instantaneous scan sampling intervals of 5, 10, 15, and 20 min using a linear regression analysis. Three criteria determined if a time interval accurately estimated behaviors: 1) ≥ 0.90, 2) slope not statistically different from 1 ( > 0.05), and 3) intercept not statistically different from 0 ( > 0.05). Estimations for lying behavior were accurate up to 20-min intervals, whereas feeding and standing behaviors were accurate only at 5-min intervals (i.e., met all 3 regression criteria). Drinking, locomotion, and oral manipulation demonstrated poor associations () for all tested intervals. The results from this study suggest that a 5-min instantaneous sampling interval will accurately estimate lying, feeding, and standing behaviors for lambs housed in a feedlot, whereas continuous sampling is recommended for the remaining behaviors. This methodology will contribute toward the efficiency, accuracy, and transparency of future behavioral data collection in lamb behavior research.

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Relationships between temperament, feeding behaviour, social interactions, and stress in lambs adapting to a feedlot environment

Cited by 18 publications

References 32 publications

Review: Individual variability in feeding behaviour of domesticated ruminants

Review: Individual variability in feeding behaviour of domesticated ruminants

The Effect of Extensive Feeding Systems on Growth Rate, Carcass Traits, and Meat Quality of Finishing Lambs

Technical note: Instantaneous sampling intervals validated from continuous video observation for behavioral recording of feedlot lambs1

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