Relationships among nutrition and reproduction and relevance for wild animals
This review discusses aspects of feeding ecology, nutrition, and dietary husbandry that are particularly relevant to reproductive success in wild animals. Emphasis has been placed on recently published literature. Special attention has been given to requirements for energy and protein and the unique roles of essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, calcium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, […]
Behaviour and welfare of broiler breeders fed qualitatively restricted diets during rearing: Are there viable alternatives to quantitative restriction?
This study investigated whether feeding female broiler breeders on qualitatively, rather than quantitatively, restricted diets during rearing could improve their welfare while also achieving desired growth rates. There were six treatments, each with four replicate pens of 12 birds. From 1 to 20 weeks of age, birds in a control treatment (T1) received a quantitatively […]
Measurement of feeding motivation in sheep and the effects of food restriction
The availability of food is a crucial factor determining the health and growth of animals. Prolonged or severe food restriction will trigger the subjective state of hunger, which could potentially reduce welfare. We refined a methodology for the measurement of feeding motivation as an indicator of hunger, evaluated the effects of food restriction on feeding […]
Behaviour of food restricted broilers during rearing and lay–effects of an alternative feeding method
Broiler breeders are subjected to quantitative food restriction in order to control their growth, and this restriction is particularly severe during rearing. While such restriction improves some welfare problems associated with ad libitum feeding, it causes others: birds routinely show abnormal oral behaviours and have elevated plasma corticosterone concentration (PCC) and changes in white blood […]
Effects of immobility stress and food restriction on stereotypies in low and high stereotyping female ranch mink
Two experiments were conducted to examine the effects of repeated immobilisations and food restriction on normal activity and stereotypies in low and high stereotyping female ranch mink. Repeated immobilisations had immediate inhibitory effects on normal activity and stereotypies in both groups, whereas food restriction had the opposite immediate effects. Subsequent to both immobilisations and food […]
Assessment of hunger in growing broiler breeders in relation to a commercial restricted feeding programme
From two weeks of age female broiler breeder chickens were fed either on a commercial daily ration (R), twice that amount (2R), or ad libitum (AL). Motivation to eat in R and 2R birds was compared every third week with that of AL birds subjected to 3-72h food deprivation. AL and 2R birds grew three […]
Food restriction promotes signaling effort in response to social challenge in a short-lived electric fish
Vertebrates exposed to stressful conditions release glucocorticoids to sustain energy expenditure. In most species elevated glucocorticoids inhibit reproduction. However individuals with limited remaining reproductive opportunities cannot afford to forgo reproduction and should resist glucocorticoid-mediated inhibition of reproductive behavior. The electric fish Brachyhypopomus gauderio has a single breeding season in its lifetime, thus we expect males […]
Effects of experimentally necessary changes in husbandry on olfactory memory: Chronic food restriction and social isolation
Changes to typical procedures in animal husbandry are often necessary to accommodate the needs of behavioral experiments. Two common changes in husbandry for rodents are light chronic food restriction (to motivate animals in reward-association tasks) and social isolation (to accommodate individual feeding schedules or need to reduce interactions because of implants for example). Each of […]