mother-bonding Flashcards
what is the basis of maternal behavior
innate behavior (available at first form when needed, genetically programmed, response increases fitness of the individual to a certain set of stimuli)
experience
what are some internal expressions of maternal behavior
- Heredity
- Experience
- Hormones
what are some external expressions of maternal
- Smell
- Appearance
- Sound
what is a typical feature of maternal behavior before partuition
withdrawal of dam from social group
how do cats, dogs, and sows behave before giving birth?
Find secluded spot & build nest
how do sheep and cows behave before giving birth?
- Separate from group
* Give birth in concealed, densely covered area
how do mares behave before giving birth?
may or may not seclude themselves from group
what does separation allow for?
• Separation allows period of peaceful isolation
- Social bonding occurs between mother and offspring
• Sensitive period for mother & newborn for bonding to occur quickly & efficiently
what effect does temporary withdrawal of dam from the social group?
- Dam has opportunity to form social bond with her offspring
- Other expectant mothers are prevented from stealing it
- Newborn has some opportunity to learn to identify its own mother
what is a common maternal behavior for dams with newborns?
- Vigorous licking of newborn
* Sow noses her offspring after all are born
how does licking prevent heat loss?
Conduction through thick amniotic fluid
how does licking affect the neonate
draws attention of neonate to mother
how does licking aid in recognition of neonate?
Licking lays quantities of saliva & pheromones
which hormone mediates much maternal behavior and grooming?
prolactin
with mothers of twins or triplets, what may happen with grooming?
may not extend beyond first born (in Merino)
happens more in primiparous due to lack of experience
primiparous vs multiparous
first off mothering process vs multiple, comes with experience
what is a characteristic of mother and offspring post-partum?
vocalization
why would mothers eat the placenta
tend to see in dogs, don’t want to attract predators
what happens to heifers raised in isolation
More likely to butt, kick offspring, interrupt suckling
describe suckling
- Dam will take stationary position immediately adjacent to newborn
- Allow it to search for teat
- Dam may make alterations in position to correct the newborns position
how does offspring orient for suckling and what does that allow for?
- Offspring back end to be near head of dam
* Olfaction - bonding
why may triplets be desired in sheep in terms of fostering?
may be desirable to even out number of lambs per ewe
why may mature cows foster first calf heifers calves?
• Calf fostered onto mature cow to reduce
stress on heifer
• Heifer returns to reproductive cyclicty sooner
why may piglets be fostered?
Even out litter size
what do you do with orphan lambs and why?
Orphan lambs covered with pelt of lamb that died
• Likely to be accepted by mother of deceased
problem: don’t want to put sick lamb pelt so mother will accept it, instead of skinning lamb put amniotic fluid from the ewe onto lamb
why would we surgically deprive a ewe’s sense of smell?
will readily accept alien lambs
how long does it take for lambs to be able to suckle freely during a forced fostering?
10 days
tranquilized ewes will accept lambs _ days after she has give birth
2
Ewe will accept “___” lamb presented within 8 hour interval of birthing
wet
if you collect amniotic fluid and rub on fostered calf, what may happen?
- Cow may initially refuse calf
- Within 24 hrs accepts the calf
- Own calf had been removed at birth
what may happen when utilizing the traditional method of fostering for cattle?
- Force-fostering onto restrained cow
- Had opportunity to bond with own calf for 3 hrs
- Calves accepted to varying degrees after 10 days
what happens with cattle force fostering cows and calves are placed back into the herd?
confusion as to proper pairings
when do bonded calves weigh more?
at weaning
when is the critical period for cow-calf bond?
first few hours postpartum
how old does a piglet have to be in order for a sow to accept it?
2 days old or younger
what kind of sow accepts strange piglets
anosmic
define anosmic
without sense of smell
what does success of fostering foals depend on?
Success depends on age of foal & nature of foster mare
• The younger the foal & closer in age to mare’s own foal
- More likely she is to accept it
why may you foster a foal from a valuable horse?
get back into its sport, etc., may be too stressful for the mare, don’t want her to get hurt in pasture
true or false: a mare will accept a sick foal
false, Mare will reject ill or abnormal foal
what can you do to increase the chances of a mare accepting a foster foal?
Can place placental fluids or milk over foal
when will cats accept alien kittens?
not much older than their own at parturition
does maternal behavior persist longer in cats or ungulates?
cats
what kind of species are more willing to accept foster young?
litter bearers (cats, dogs, and pigs) are more willing to accept than those that produce singlets or twins
