Group life p2 Flashcards
different kinds of domestic animal grouping
-extensive groups (closer to natural settings such as free-range animals
-intensive groups (often comprised of economics, management, and welfare (health & behaviour)
intensive groups
-groups of individuals whose movements are restricted by the physical presence of others
-higher likelihood that animals come closer than their individual distance
-consequence can be higher aggression or avoidence behaviour
-some animals can be crowded without being overcrowded
-resources availability and management essentials
what are some variables that play a role in intensive and extensive groups
-group size
-spacing
-age and sex distribution
intensive group disadvantages
-eliminates choices: for habitat, for staying or laving
-no family structure
advantages of intensive groups
-protected
-food provided
-health
-generally lower fear levels
welfare friendly systems incorporate the most important features of natural groups what are these features
-group size
-offspring dispersal
-parent-offspring interactions (super important)
-problems arise if this doesn’t occur (buller-steer syndrome in feedlot steers)
buller-steer syndrome
-behavioural problem in a groups of cattle that is recognized by the repeated mounting of one animal, the Buller, by a group of animals, the riders
-2.7% were bullers and majority occurred shortly after arrival
-establishment of hierarchies
-submissive behaviour, pheromones, warm weather, group size and other stressful events
maintaining groups- dominance
-dominant-subordinate relationships are established
-then to be the cornerstone of all relationships
-creates rules by which other social relationships are controlled
what is needed in order for maintaining dominant relationships to work
-the predictable outcome between a pair of individuals occurs (one learns to be dominant and other learns subordinate)
-learned relationship (requires recognition and memory of previous encounter
-these things result in a dominant hierarchy
dominance rank
-represents an individuals relative position with respect to all other animals
-bigger the group=the more trads
what do hierarchy help with
-maintaining order within a group
-it is specific to a particular gorup
what happens if you add or remove an animal from a hierarchy
-disrupts the order
-when they get used to one leaving for a short period of time they can become accustomed to this
advantages/disadvantages to each animal on the rank
-all positions have them ie
-top advantages: lots of food
-top disadvantages: always need to be on there A game
avoidance behaviour
-subordinate group members avoid provoking those ranked above them
-example: domestic horses in small pen, very fit, fed excess energy, can see injuries if horses are not giving enough space to avoid conflict
aggression and threatning
-dominant animals likely aggressive to establish their dominance, but in most cases do not need to remain aggressive
-ritualized behaviour (contenders mutually assessing
aggression with in different group sizes
-small groups (lowest aggression)
-very small groups (second aggressive, animals can give up on hierarchy)
-mid groups (highest aggression)
in stable groups dominance is maintained by subtle aggression, posturing. why?
less energy and risk
aggression vs dominance
-aggressive=propensity to perform aggressive behaviour
-dominace=rank within a specific group, ability to control resources
-high aggression doesn’t equal dominance
hierarchy requires…
-individual recognition (differs in species)
-memories of past encounters (how long can they remember (‘social memory’)
individual roles or strategies
-inside a group different individuals tend to have different roles
-dominant vs submissive roles
-doesnt work efficently is all members perform the same activies
-efficiency is better if labour is divided among members
-i.e. bees:
-queen (reproductive function)
-worker (different roles during different stages)
-drones (reproductive)
individual roles or strategies: family reared groups
-individuals role sometimes influenced by mothers
-ie. horses the hierarchal rank of the foal is positively correlated to that of its mother
individual roles or strategies: dominant individuals
-privileged, including breeding status
-always at risk of losing their status
-pairwise fights
-will depend on the likelihood of injury
-the higher the likelihood the less chance of a fight
-if the chance of the dominant is to lose the fight, does it make sense to share the “dominant behaviour” ie mating
individual roles or strategies: alliances
-can affect hierarchy by destabilizing
-X can defeat Y if Z helps if the helper isn’t available or not loyal outcome will differ
-usually see cooperation in a group:
~repeated interactions between same individuals
~can be sort or long term cooperation
~ie producers and scroungers
different characteristics an animal can be to a group
-social status: dominance rank
-role: groomer, leader
-strategies: producer and scroungers
-these characteristics can come down to personality of the animal
individual roles or strate
gies: the groomer
-some animals are ‘groomers’
-all dairy cows are groomed but 75% actually do the grooming
-grooming cleans parasites and reduces tension
-absence of primary groomers reduces milk production
-affiliate behaviour
individual roles or strategies: leader
-some herd animals are “leaders”
-first to initiate grazing, traveling, or resting
-often older more sociable animal
-mid to high ranking but not dominant
individual roles and strategies: the producer and scrounger
-strategies in foraging:
~scrounger manages to exploit the work the producer is doing
~scroungers do best when outnumbered by producers
-red deer example:
~harem owner defends the group
~while he is doing that other young male sneaks mating
what is group communication
-one individual causes a response in another (two sides of oneness)
types of signals for group communication
-morphology, visual, chemical, sound
-behavioural patterns, smells, or structures used to affect behaviour of others
to function properly signals need to be received what 3 factors determine how this will happen
-detectability (intensity, duration, occurrence, repetition)
-discriminability (distinguished the signal from other stimuli)
-memorability (remember and associate the signal)
actor and reactor in group communication
-co-operative signal: the receiver benefits from detecting the signal
-signal to potential mate
-non-cooperative signalling: the receiver does not benefit from detecting the signal
-unintentionally attracting predator
factors that can cause problems with signals
-interference
-noise, visual interference
-visibility or distance
-interest of sender & receiver
how can domestication change normal communication
-lead to increased signalling (signals to humans for some reasons)
-group size (bigger have more noises, may require repetition and redundancy)
-barren environments (might be the only stimuli the animal can display, could lead to stereotypies)
can signalling be used to indicate internal states
-pain, distress calls, alarm calls
-communicate signalers state
-age and species-specific (e.g. distress calls: young animals vocalize more, prey animals ‘stoic’, vocalize less)
-could be used to assess well-being
if signals can indicate internal state are they always honest
-no dishonest calls
-birds pretending to be hurt to draw you away from nest
-foraging birds and random calls
-but if it happens to often others will ignore the signals
