The ontogeny of nursing in Babyrousa babyrussa and a comparison with domestic pigs
Abstract 10.1002/1098-2361(2000)19:43.3.CO;2-B The nursing behavior of eight babirusa (Babyrousa babyrussa) infants was studied. Four were from single births and four were from twin births. The age at weaning, the time of day and number of nursing bouts per day, the mean duration of nursing bouts, and whether the offspring or the dam ended nursing bouts […]
Food consumption and growth of California sea lions (Zalophus californianus californianus)
Abstract 10.1002/1098-2361(2000)19:23.3.CO;2-F The daily food consumption of 26 California sea lions at the Harderwijk Marine Mammal Park was recorded. Average annual food consumption of males increased with age to stabilize at approximately 4,000 kg/year by the age of 10 years. Females showed a rapid increase in average annual food consumption until they were 3 years […]
Influence of housing on weanling horse behavior and subsequent welfare
Weaning foals marks a stressful event in horses’ lives. Limited research exists regarding different housing methods post-weaning and the long-term implications on horse behavior and welfare. The purpose of this study was to monitor behavior and physiological stress markers in horses weaned individually in solid partition box stalls versus horses weaned in small groups and […]
Welfare implications of artificial rearing and early weaning in sheep
Soon after parturition a lasting and mutual ewe-lamb bond is established. However, in an increasing number of intensive sheep farms, lambs are separated from the dam at an early age. When artificial rearing is applied lambs are often kept with mothers for 2 days to allow the ingestion of maternal colostrum and then abruptly removed […]
Leaving home: A study of laboratory mouse pup independence
Juvenile wild house mice leave their mothers at 8 weeks (+). In contrast, laboratory strains of mice (lab mice) are typically ‘weaned’ at postnatal day (PND) 21. Lab mice might mature faster than their wild forebears; but if they do not, standard laboratory weaning likely involves maternal deprivation. We therefore investigated when lab mice voluntarily […]
Individual differences in responses of piglets to weaning at different ages
Several studies indicate each piglet within a litter is affected differently by weaning and that these individual responses may be altered by the age of the litter at weaning. In the present study, eight litters of individually marked piglets (n=79) were randomly assigned to be weaned at 21 or 35 days (four litters per treatment), […]
Socialising piglets before weaning improves social hierarchy formation when pigs are mixed post-weaning
Weaning of piglets involves a combination of stressors: a change of environment and diet, separation from the sow and mixing of unfamiliar litters. If litters are mixed before weaning instead, aggression and mixing stress are reduced. The present study aimed to test whether pre-weaning mixing of litters (socialisation) has longer-term benefits by reducing aggression and […]
Mother–offspring relationships in donkeys
The social relationship between female domestic donkeys (jennies) and their offspring was explored by observation of their spatial relationship. The donkeys were kept together for life and the ages of the offspring at the beginning of the observation period ranged from a few hours to 13 yr. There was a gradual change in the jenny–foal […]
Learning how to eat like a pig: effectiveness of mechanisms for vertical social learning in piglets
We investigated which mechanisms of learning about foraging from the mother are important in piglets, Sus scrofa. The first experiment compared observation of the sow versus participation during eating. Piglet pairs could observe (observation piglets) or participate (participation piglets) with the sow while she was eating a flavoured feed in a test room for 10 min/day […]
Cross-sucking by dairy calves may become a habit or reflect characteristics of individual calves more than milk allowance or weaning
To examine the effects of milk allowance and weaning age on cross-sucking, 45 dairy calves were housed in groups of nine and fed milk and grain-based starter feed from automated feeders and allocated to three treatment groups: (A) Low-Milk Early-Weaned (fed 6 L/d of milk until weaned at 47 d of age), (B) High-Milk Early-Weaned (fed […]