Progress 03/14/77 to 03/13/04
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Katherine Houpt has retired from the University, we are not able to get a final report. Please terminate this project without the final report. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
N/A
Publications
- No publications reported this period
|
Progress 01/01/92 to 12/31/92
Outputs
The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether there were any indications that inducing labor in mares resulted in behavioral abnormalities in their foals. In particular the ontogeny of the ability to stand and latency to nurse were considered important. The behavior of ten foals during the first three hours after birth was studied. Five of the foals were boarn spontaneously; the other five births had been induced by administration of oxytocin to the dam. The latency to move the limbs was 86.2 +- 83 sec in normal foals and 21 +- 7.9 seconds in induced foals. The latency to stand was 93.2 +- 15.4 min in normal foals and 99.7 +- 6.25 min in induced foals. Latency to a suckle was 206 +- 54 min in normal foals and 173 +- 10 min in induced foals. There did not appear to be any delay in achieving the developmental stages investigated due to induction of parturition.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
|
Progress 01/01/92 to 12/30/92
Outputs
The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether there were any indications that inducing labor in mares resulted in behavioral abnormalities in their foals. In particular the ontogeny of the ability to stand and latency to nurse were considered important. The behavior of ten foals during the first three hours after birth was studied. Five of the foals were boarn spontaneously; the other five births had been induced by administration of oxytocin to the dam. The latency to move the limbs was 86.2 +- 83 sec in normal foals and 21 +- 7.9 seconds in induced foals. The latency to stand was 93.2 +- 15.4 min in normal foals and 99.7 +- 6.25 min in induced foals. Latency to a suckle was 206 +- 54 min in normal foals and 173 +- 10 min in induced foals. There did not appear to be any delay in achieving the developmental stages investigated due to induction of parturition.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
|
Progress 01/01/88 to 12/30/88
Outputs
The social and physical environmental references of horses were studied using preference testing, changes in behavior with changes in the social environment and operant conditioning. The preference of 10 mares for visual contact with other mares was determined by measuring the time spent in a position where they could watch other horses vs a position where they could not. Although horses spent slightly over half their time in a position where they could watch other horses, the time spent where they could watch other horses was not significantly greater than the time spent in the position where they could not. When the behaviors of the same 10 mares in three different social environments were compared, horses with no other horses present were three times more active and spent 10% less time eating than those that could make visual, auditory and physical contact with other horses. Using an operant conditioning technique, each of five horses in a dark environment
learned to turn on lights, indicating a preference for a lighted environment.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
|
Progress 01/01/87 to 12/30/87
Outputs
The structure of the play of colts & fillies living on pasture was studied from birth (n=15) for up to 24 weeks. Foal play was categorized as running & bucking alone, running & bucking in a group, interactive (contact or combat) play, play with an object, and play at an adult. The rate of play decreased with increasing age & ambient temperature. Fillies and colts played with equal frequency, but engaged in some different types of play at different rates. There was no difference between colts & fillies in the proportion of play bouts of running and bucking in a group or playing with an object. Fillies engaged in running & bucking alone more than colts. Colts engaged in interactive play & play at an adult more than fillies. While there was no significant difference between colts & fillies in the duration of either type of running & bucking play, the interactive play bouts of colts were significantly longer than those of fillies. Mares and stallions were tolerant of foal
play which involved use of their body as a play object, including mounting play. Both fillies and colts engaged in mounting play. Foals used various natural objects found in the pasture for repeated bouts of play with inanimate objects, a behavior which may explain, from a developmental perspective, the occasional use of "tools" in adult equids. The sex differences in type of play were consistent with the social structure of unmanaged adults in which males must compete with each other in order to associate with females.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
|
Progress 01/01/85 to 12/30/85
Outputs
Seven stallions were used to determine their ability to discriminate between various reproductive conditions on the basis of urine odor. Six urine types were used: estrous urine, diestrous urine, anestrous urine, ovariectomized mare urine, gelding urine and stallion urine. Bowls containing 20 ml of urine were presented to the stallions in their home stalls for 10 min. The estrous and diestrous urines were from the same 5 mares. The first sniff was longer in trials during which the flehmen response was given (8 +/- 1 sec vs 5 +/- 1 sec). The stallion showed the flehmen response 13 +/- 1 to estrous urine, 13 +/- 1 to diestrous urine, 7 +/- 3 to ovariectomized mare urine, 3 +/- 1 to anestrous urine, 4 +/- 1 to gelding urine, and 4 +/- 2 to stallion urine. Although the number of flehmen responses does not seem to vary with the reproductive condition of mares, stallions do respond less to anestrus or ovariectomized mare urine and to male urine (P > .05). A bowl
containing 150 ml of stallion urine was placed in the stalls of estrous (N = 10) and diestrous (N = 22) mares. The number of sniffs (estrous = 3 +/- 0.6; diestrous = 2.9 +/- 0.7) and the total time spent sniffing the stallion urine (estrous = 11.8 +/- 2.2; diestrous = 8.2 +/- 2.1) were not significantly different. Ten estrous mares and 8 diestrous mares were placed in a stall containing soiled bedding from a stallion's stall.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
|
Progress 01/01/84 to 12/30/84
Outputs
Maternal behavior in three mare mules was studied. The mules had delivered either horse (2 thoroughbred) or donkey (1) foals as a result of embryo transfer. One of the mules showed normal equine maternal behavior, one showed excessive maternal behavior and the other showed insufficient maternal behavior. The mule that exhibited excessive maternal behavior licked her horse foal 130 times in he first 30 minutes postpartum, more than the 50 licking bouts that is normal for horses. Several weeks after her foal had to be weaned as a consequence of a cleft palate she adopted and successfully nursed a calf. The mule that showed insufficient maternal behavior rejected her donkey foal at birth, but allowed it to nurse after a few days of restraint. When the foal was 3 weeks old she again refused to nurse it. This study indicates that maternal behavior can be variable in mules possibly because the sterile hybrid can't be selected for maternal behavior. Whenever possible
recipients for embryo transfer, whether intra or cross species, should be animals of proven good maternal behavior.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
|
Progress 01/01/83 to 12/30/83
Outputs
Time budgets were determined for 9 ponies fed hay ad libitum. Two ponies were observed at one time. They were housed in adjacent stalls and the degree of social facilitation i.e. the amount of time that behaviors occurred simultaneously was determined. Dominance within each pair was also determined in a feeding competition. The ponies ate 70 +/- 9%, walked 3 +/- 1%, stood 18 +/- 7%, drank 2 +/- 35%, pushed hay 5 +/- 7% and self-groomed 1 +/- 1% of the time. Other behaviors such as elimination, chweing nonfeed items, licking salt and lying, each occupied less than 1% of the ponies' total time budget. The subordinate member of each pair was no more likely to be doing what the dominant pony was doing, than vice versa. Dominance apparently does not confer leadership in ponies. Two other findings were: Ponies ate more hay from the floor than from the troughs in which the hay was fed (41% vs. 29% of the time spent eating from each location); half of the eliminations,
both urination and defecation, were preceded by walking indicating a reluctance of the ponies to soil their feed.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
|
Progress 01/01/82 to 12/30/82
Outputs
Dominance hierarchies were determined in three herds of feral horses living on Assateague Island and in three herds of domestic horses at Cornell University. The herds varied in size from six to 10 ponies. The animals ranged in age from 1 to 15 yrs. and consisted of at least one stallion and several mares. Some herds contained geldings. Field observation during the summer of all social interactions was used to determine dominance in the feral herds, and paired feeding competitions were used to determine dominance in the domestic herds. The stallions were neither the dominant nor the most aggressive animals in these herds, and were subordinate to some mares in all the herds. Within the feral herds, the herd stallion ranked fourth in one herd of eight, fifth in another herd of seven and fourth in a third herd of six. In each of the three domestic herds, a gelding was the highest ranking animal. In a herd of seven animals, stallions ranked third and fourth. In a
herd of six animals, the stallion, a subadult, ranked last. In a herd of 10 animals, one stallion ranked fifth and the three others were the lowest ranking animals. There were positive, but nonsignificant correlations between rank and weight in the domestic horses. There was a much higher level of aggression among the domestic herds in a paired feeding situation (47 aggressive acts/h.) than among the free-ranging herds in a grazing situation (13 aggressive acts/h.).
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
|
Progress 01/01/81 to 12/30/81
Outputs
Blood samples were collected daily and the behavior of 13 Shetland-type pony mares was observed for 30 minutes following parturition. Point samples were taken every 5 seconds. The activity state (walking, standing or lying) and the following events were recorded: pawing, flehmen, eating, drinking, nursing, vocalization, and sniffing, licking or touching either the foal or the placenta. The part of the foal contacted (head, forequarters, mid-section or hindquarters) was recorded. During the first 30 minutes mares stood 59 plus or minus 13%, lay 29 plus or minus 7% and walked 6 plus or minus 4% of the time. The mares contacted the placenta 16.7 plus or minus 7.8 and the foal 81.5 plus or minus 12.1 times. The flehmed 1.7 plus or minus 1.0 times. Most contacts with foal involved licking (48.2 plus or minus 8.5) and the head was most often contacted (34.1 plus or minus 12.1 times). The foal rarely nursed in the first 30 minutes (0.1 plus or minus 0.1 times). Eight
of the mares were also observed for the second 30 minutes after parturition (30-60 minutes). The number of contacts with the placenta fell to 1.9 plus or minus 1.5 times, the number of contacts with the foal to 39.8 plus or minus 12.5 times. During the second 30 minutes the mare directed more of her contacts to the foal's hindquarters (18.5 plus or minus 6 contacts) than to the head (9.4 plus or minus 4.8). The foals nursed 3.5 plus or minus 3 times.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
|
Progress 01/01/80 to 12/30/80
Outputs
Mare-foal pairs living on pasture were observed weekly from birth to weaning of the foals. A total of two hours of focal samples were taken per week for each pair. Data collected included activity state, distance apart, movements across 5 m and 10 m and all movements by the mare when the foal was recumbent. In the first 7 weeks the mare was more likely to be within 5 m of the foal if it was recumbent than if it was upright, unless it was nursing. The mare maintained close proximity by feeding while walking in a circle around the foal or resting standing upright beside the foal. The mare was more likely to be resting upright if the foal was resting recumbently. Across 5 m and 10 m, when the foal was up, it approached the mare more than it left her and approached her more often than she approached it. Although the mare left the foal no more often than it left her, she left it more often than she approached it. It was concluded that the maternal behavior of the mare
consisted of two responses, one to the recumbent foal in which she maintains close proximity or actively approaches the foal and one to the upright foal in which she leaves the foal resulting in a greater separation of the pair and requiring the foal to approach her repeatedly in order to maintain proximity.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
|
Progress 01/01/79 to 12/30/79
Outputs
The research has been concerned with the differences and similarities in behavior of bottle-raised (orphan) pony foals and their age matched mare-raised controls. There were 6 foals in each group. The behavior of the foals on pasture was studied. Grazing time, locomotion (steps/15 min), time lying down, and time standing were recorded. The number of times the foal scratched itself with hooves or teeth was also recorded. The number of foals within one meter of the focal foal was noted and the location of each foal in the group was recorded every 15 min. The orphan foals scratched more often than mothered foals possibly because they could not stand with their faces in their dams' tails as the mothered foals did. The orphan foals also spent more time in close proximity to other foals than did the mothered foals. Each foal was exposed to a novel environment (a small paddock) for three 5-min periods. The foal was alone for the first 5 min, with a human for the second
5 min and with a novel horse for the third 5 min. The mothered foals vocalized more often, defecated more often and were more active than the orphan foals. There were no significant differences between the two groups in their approaches to a person or to a horse. Maze learning ability of each group of foals was compared using a simple two choice maze in which the ponies first learned to turn right and then to turn left. The maze learning ability of the foals is being compared with that of their mothers.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
|
Progress 01/01/78 to 12/30/78
Outputs
Aspects of dominance in horse were studied: The correlation between a mare's rank in her herd and that of her 2-year-old offspring in its herd; the effect of a barrier between ponies on expressions of aggression and time spent eating; the correlation between dominance rank and the ability to learn two tasks - a simple maze and a avoidance response. There was no correlation between rank of a mare and rank of her foal, but high ranking foals were the offspring of high ranking mares. When a barrier (a rail fence) separated ponies they exhibited less aggression toward one another and the subordinate pony spent more time eating than it did when no barrier separated them. There is no correlation between dominance rank and rate of learning either task; there was, however, a correlation between rate of learning one task and rate of learning the other, i.e. ponies that learned the maze quickly learned the avoidance response quickly.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
|
Progress 01/01/77 to 12/30/77
Outputs
The role of the three senses, vision, audition, and olfaction in recognitionof the foal by the mare and the mare by the foal were investigated. In the first series of experiments the mares and foals were separated and the ability of the foal to rejoin its dam when her appearance was altered by hooding and blanketing and its time to find her when she was not modified in appearance was recompared. The foal was held equidistant from two mares; its mother and an alien mare. The neighs by each of the three horses were recorded as was the time for the foal to rejoin its mother as well as any approaches to the alien mare were also recorded. It was found that the foal could find its mother just as quickly if the mare was disguised with a blanket and hood as it could when she was not disguised. It was also noted that the foal was more successful in finding its mother if she neighed frequently and it was more apt to approach the alien mare if she neighed frequently. These
findings indicate that audition is important, but may not be based on individual voice recognition. Similar results were found when the ability of the mare to rejoin her foal rather than an alien foal when both the foals were disguised was compared with her ability to rejoin her foal when neither foal was disguised. Audition, but not individual voice recognition, appeared to be involved in the mare's ability to relocate her foal.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
|
|