Effects of Habitat Enrichment on Patterns of Diet Selection

1993 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 497-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven B. Murden ◽  
Ken L. Risenhoover
2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josephine F. Wilson ◽  
Rachel L. Radel

Author(s):  
Phan Vũ Hải ◽  
Hồ Trung Thông ◽  
Đàm Văn Tiện

This study was undertaken to find ways of reducing the time taken by goats tobegin to eat an edible feed that they have not previously encountered. Experiment 1demonstrated that the time taken for goats (7-8 months old) to ingest an unfamiliar feed(rice straw) was shorter (4 days) when it was first offered to them in the presence offamiliar positive cues (the odor or flavor of juices extracted from previously eaten,nutritionally beneficial grasses), than if it was offered in the absence of such cues (10 days).In contrast, when the feed was offered in the presence of the odor of parasitised goat feces,the time to first ingestion was extended to 20 days. Experiment 2 showed that when sixmonthold goats were exposed to feeds they had not experienced previously (rice straw orrice bran) they did not ingest these feeds in less than 7 days. However, they commencedingesting these feeds immediately if they had been exposed to them, prior to weaning, inthe presence of their mother or another adult goat. Application of the principles of feedingbehavior, as illustrated by the present studies, to goats in Vietnam may improve theirproduction, especially when diets are changed frequently and include both familiar andunfamiliar materials.Keywords: Behavior; Diet selection; Flavor; Neophobia; Social facilitation; Goat.


2002 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 357-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. James ◽  
I. Kyriazakis ◽  
G. C. Emmans ◽  
B. J. Tolkamp

AbstractThe hypotheses tested were that the expected preference of sheep for a food with adequate rumen degradable protein (RDP) supplemented with urea would be reduced both by the addition of a buffer (sodium bicarbonate (SB)) and by offering ad libitum access to hay. A control food (C), calculated to be adequate in its ratio of effective RDP to fermentable metabolizable energy (fME), was formulated. Other foods were made by adding 12·5 (U1) or 25 (U2) g urea per kg fresh matter (FM) to C and 20 g SB per kg FM to C, U1and U2. The acid buffering capacity (ABC) of each food was measured in vitro. The experiment consisted of two successive periods, each of 4 weeks. Ninety-eight female, Texel ✕ Greyface sheep were randomly allocated to 14 groups each with seven animals. Groups 1 to 6 were offered one of: C, U2, C + SB, U2+ SB, C with hay or U2with hay throughout the experiment. Groups 7 to 10 were offered the choices of C v. U1or C v. U2, either with or without hay in a change-over design; animals that received hay during period 1 (groups 8 and 10) did not do so during period 2 and vice versa (groups 7 and 9). Groups 11 to 14 (no. = 7) were offered the choices of C v. U1or C v. U2, either with or without SB supplemented to both foods, in a change-over design. Adding either urea, or SB, or both to C had no effects on intake or live-weight gain when offered alone. Both supplements significantly (P 0·001) increased the ABC of food C. Throughout the experiment hay consumption was very low (overall mean: 23 (s.e. 2·5) g hay per sheep day). Offering hay caused no change in the preference for the urea-supplemented foods. Sheep offered the choices C v. U1or C v. U2, with neither hay nor SB, selected 0.466 (s.e. 0·036) and 0.588 (s.e. 0·025) kg/kg total food intake (TFI) of U1and U2respectively. The proportions of the urea-supplemented foods were significantly reduced (P 0.01) by SB supplementation: to 0.348 (s.e.0·045) and 0·406 (s.e.0·059) kg/kg TFI of U1and U2respectively. The effect of SB addition on the diet selection of sheep could be due to its buffering properties. When SB is added to both foods the need for urea to be used as a buffer is reduced with a consequent decrease in the proportion selected as the urea-supplemented food. Effects of diet on buffering may override other diet selection objectives, such as the avoidance of an excess intake of RDP.


1983 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Morales ◽  
T. Antezana

1990 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly O. Ahlgren

The ash-free dry mass (AFDM) of detritus, invertebrates, and algae in the diet of juvenile white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) was determined by quantitative microscopy. Fish were collected from a northern Michigan pond from January through October 1986 and their seasonal diet was compared with benthc invertebrate abundance. The quantity of detritus in sucker foreguts was inversely related to benthic microcrustacean densities. In July, microcrustacean densities were high and they comprised 95% of the AFDM in foregut contents. By October, microcrustacean densities had declined to 13% of their maximum density and detritus comprised over 90% of the sucker's diet AFDM. In laboratory aquaria, sucker that were fed detritus mixed with four different densities of Artemia ingested significantly more detritus from diets that provided lower Artemia densities. In the presence of high Artemia densities, sucker completely rejected detritus and ingested only Artemia, The fact that juvenile sucker can separate detritus from invertebrates that they swallow demonstrates that detritus is not ingested incidentally. Both laboratory and field data support the hypothesis that detritus is ingested intentionally when preferred invertebrate prey are scarce.


animal ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 449-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Osoro ◽  
U. García ◽  
B.M. Jáuregui ◽  
L.M.M. Ferreira ◽  
A.J. Rook ◽  
...  

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