Five or eight weeks of restricted suckling: influence on dairy calves’ feed intake, growth and suckling behaviour
Concern about welfare and behavioural needs of animals has increased the interest in keeping calf and cow together after parturition. In this experiment six calves suckled their dams twice a day for five weeks then once a day for three weeks (DAM8). Six calves (DAM5) suckled during five weeks in the same way as calves […]
Artificial Weaning of Old World Monkeys: Benefits and Costs
Permanent mother-infant separation prior to natural weaning is a common husbandry practice in monkey breeding colonies. In the United States, all eight Regional Primate Research Centers have such colonies. Under undisturbed conditions, Old World monkey mothers wean their infants at the age of about 1 year (Hall & DeVore, 1965; Poirier, 1970; Roonwal & Mohnot, […]
Maternal deprivation and the development of stereotypic behaviour
Many farm, laboratory, zoo and companion animals experience some form of maternal deprivation. This is typically via separation from their mothers earlier than would happen in free-living populations, in some cases even while young are still dependent upon milk. Maternal deprivation may also occur in a qualitative way, via inadequate maternal care, perhaps caused by […]
Early social experience influences the development of stereotypic behaviour in captive-born striped mice Rhabdomys
The early life experience of captive animals, in combination with their genetic inheritance, can predispose or promote the development of stereotypic behaviour in later life. To investigate the early social effects of weaning age and the presence/absence of the father on the development of stereotypic behaviour in adulthood, we retrospectively analysed data from our captive […]