Sucking and allosucking duration in farmed red deer (Cervus elaphus)

Drábková, Jorga; Bartošová, Jitka; Bartoš, Luděk; Kotrba, Radim; Pluháček, Jan; Švecová, Ludmila; Dušek, Adam; Kott, T.

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2007.10.009

Cited by 21 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…In fact, both farms shared similar paddock size, animal density and carrying capacity, food availability and predator control. The extent of allonursing recorded in guanacos is similar to that reported in captive Saharan arrui (3.3%, Cassinello 1999), and in red deer during the first month of life (Drábková et al. 2008), but low compared with other ungulates.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Allonursing in Captive Guanacos, Lama guanicoe: Milk Theft or Misdirected Parental Care?

2009

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Females in several ungulates transfer milk to non‐filial (NF) offspring, in a process known as allonursing. This behavior is less common in monotocous species, including most ungulates, and it has been associated with parasitic behavior of calves or mothers who have lost their own offspring. To examine whether the calves ‘steal’ milk from the females or whether females fail to discriminate their own calves in guanacos, allonursing behavior was observed. If milk theft drives allonursing, mothers should reject NF offspring, they should search for their own calves, and calves attempting to suckle from alien mothers should adopt parallel (as opposed to the anti‐parallel) position during allonursing. Alternatively, if allonursing is caused by mothers unable to discriminate own offspring, mothers are not expected to reject NF offspring, and alien calves should use parallel and antiparallel position similarly when allonursing. Allonursing was investigated during the first 3 mo of lactation in two groups of captive guanacos composed of 15 and 14 mother‐calf pairs, respectively. While 40% and 62.5% of mothers in groups 1 and 2 performed allonursing, high individual variation prevailed; some females exhibited this behavior infrequently (4.1% and 6.5 % in groups 1 and 2). The rejection rate to NF nursing attempts was threefold higher than the rejection rate to filial nursing attempts. The occurrence of nursing to NF was associated to a parallel posture by the calves. Our findings suggest that ‘milk theft’ is a more plausible hypothesis to explain allonursing in guanacos than ‘misdirected parental care’.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Allonursing in Captive Guanacos, Lama guanicoe: Milk Theft or Misdirected Parental Care?

2009

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“…Naso-anal contact contributes to motheroffspring bonding (Cowan 1974;Nowak et al 2000), which is essential for the survival of the calf independently from the environmental conditions. In addition, non-filial suckling, which could jeopardize individual reproductive success and increase maternal costs, occurs in many ungulate species under both wild and farm conditions (Packer et al 1992;Ekvall 1998;Pélabon et al 1998;Víchová and Bartoš 2005;Drábková et al 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suckling behavior of eland antelopes (Taurotragus spp.) under semi-captive and farm conditions

Hejcmanová

Vymyslická

Koláčková

et al. 2010

J Ethol

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Mother-offspring interactions soon after parturition play a key role in the survival of mammals. We investigated the suckling behavior of semi-captive Western Derby eland (Taurotragus derbianus derbianus) in a 60-ha enclosure covered by dense savanna vegetation in Senegal and farmed Common eland (T. oryx) on an open 2-ha pasture in the Czech Republic. We hypothesized that the basic pattern of suckling bout duration and mother-offspring interactions would be similar between species, but would vary in response to the environmental conditions and breeding system. During three calving periods, we observed the suckling of 27 and 23 calves of Derby and Common elands, respectively, between the ages of 1-5 months, and the interactions between mother and calf before and during suckling. Suckling bout duration increased with the age of the calves for both elands. However, in Derby elands we recorded longer suckling bouts in male than female calves and shorter suckling bouts in primiparous mothers than multiparous ones; no differences were found in farmed Common elands. The animals' active approach to mother-offspring contact, for example naso-anal contact, and initiation and termination of suckling, resulted in longer suckling bouts in Derby elands. The results suggest that Derby elands that range over a large enclosure with dense vegetation cover adjust their maternal behavior in compliance with potential predator risk, facing a trade-off between nursing and vigilant behavior in the wild. The suckling behavior of farmed elands, on the other hand, reflects the conditions of captivity without predators and with the small available area enabling permanent visual contact of animals.

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“…In reindeer, rapid milk ejection is required since calves suckle frequently and for short durations (White and Luick, 1984). Therefore, we assumed that milk transfer occurred, and a similar assumption was made in other studies (Drábková et al, 2008;Gauthier and Barrette, 1985;Paranhos da Costa et al, 2000;Pélabon et al, 1998;Zapata et al, 2009).…”

Section: Behavioural Observationsmentioning

confidence: 90%

Allosuckling in reindeer (Rangifer tarandus): Milk-theft, mismothering or kin selection?

Engelhardt¹,

Weladji²,

Holand³

et al. 2014

Behavioural Processes

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Sucking and allosucking duration in farmed red deer (Cervus elaphus)

Cited by 21 publications

References 28 publications

Allonursing in Captive Guanacos, Lama guanicoe: Milk Theft or Misdirected Parental Care?

Allonursing in Captive Guanacos, Lama guanicoe: Milk Theft or Misdirected Parental Care?

Suckling behavior of eland antelopes (Taurotragus spp.) under semi-captive and farm conditions

Allosuckling in reindeer (Rangifer tarandus): Milk-theft, mismothering or kin selection?

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