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Why do animals prefer certain foods and locations?

This study delves into why animals prefer specific foods and locations, exploring the impact of early experiences and trans-generational dynamics on dietary habits, foraging skills, and habitat selection. Through a series of experiments involving lambs and their mothers, the research examines how experience shapes an animal's behavior, neurological development, and physiological responses. Insights gained highlight the significant influence of past encounters on future performance and survival strategies. Implications for animal management practices are discussed, emphasizing the importance of considering an animal's cultural background and familiarity with an environment to optimize their welfare and performance.

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Why do animals prefer certain foods and locations?

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  1. If you have any questions or comments about the materials please contact me by phone or email:Beth Burritt435-797-3576beth.burritt@usu.edu

  2. Why do animals prefer certain foods and locations?

  3. Behavior Consequences

  4. Why do animals prefer to eat certain foods?

  5. Early Experience Matters Most

  6. Mother Knows Best

  7. Young herbivores learn quickly from mom, and they remember for years

  8. Lambs learn quickly,and remember for years Intake of wheat, g/d Exposure to Wheat (1 h/d for 5 d at 6 wk age)

  9. Food Preferences

  10. If video doesn’t play, insert file Mother_young.wmv

  11. Lambs eat what mom eats and avoid what she avoids.

  12. Lambs eat what mom eats... Number of bites/lamb

  13. ....even after weaning Serviceberry, % of bites

  14. Food Intake

  15. Experience affects food intake Intake, g/kg body weight

  16. ...and preference Experienced Inexperienced

  17. Peers

  18. Trans-Generational Dynamics Does from Four Regions Offspring next four generations

  19. Peers Affect Preference Larkspur (% bites) Year Averse Control 1993 0 20 1994 0 12 1995 0 11 Control Averse

  20. Foraging Skills

  21. If video doesn’t play, insert file Foraging_skills.wmv

  22. Experience Affects Foraging Skills Bites/minute 6 months

  23. Experience Affects Foraging Skills Bites/minute 18 months

  24. Habitat Selection

  25. Maxfield Thompson

  26. MaxfieldThompson • Calf • mother • Yearlings • peers • 2-years age • drought • 3-years age • mother

  27. sheep, cattle, goats deer, elk, bighorn sheep, moose sage grouse, geese, neo-tropical migratory birds

  28. Experience Causes Changes Neurological, Morphological, Physiological The body determines the structure of experience, experience determines the structure of the body.

  29. Experience Affects Neurology

  30. Experience affects Morphology

  31. Experience affects Physiology

  32. So what does this mean?

  33. Same straw Different performance

  34. Different experience

  35. Experience Influences Performance Year 1Year 2Year 3 Body weight* * * Body condition * * * Milk production* * - Post-partum interval* * -

  36. Dairies…

  37. Why do moose in Norway migrate to the uplands in winter?

  38. … to survive

  39. Do white-tailed deer in the Adirondacks behave as gas molecules?

  40. There’s no place like home.

  41. Implications for Management

  42. Moving animals to new environments

  43. Wild and domestic animals moved to unfamiliar environments suffer more from predation, malnutrition, and ingestion of poisonous plants than animals familiar with the environment…

  44. …yet, we buy and sell animals, and move them to unfamiliar environments, without concern for their culture of origin, and then wonder why they don’t perform well…

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