Lecture 18

Question 1

True or false: delaying childbirth is associated with a shorter lifespan

1 pt

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Why is there a spike in cortisol levels at parturition?

1 pt

Answer 2

Helps cope with challenges of parenting

Question 3

What are factors affecting care of offspring?

3 pts

Answer 3

• Size of litter
• Age of offspring
• Age of parent - younger parent (still growing, lack experience), older parent (may be last parity - devote extra care)

Question 4

What happened to Flo and Flint?

1 pt

Answer 4

Flint was so dependant on his mother Flo after Flame died, Flint died a few months after Flo did out of heart break

Question 5

What did the family Pen system allow?

4 pts

Answer 5

Allowed full range of behaviours:
* isolation
* nesting
* nursing
* rooting

Question 6

Why are pigs a rare combination of parental care?

2 pts

Answer 6

• r species (opportunistics) - can reproduce like crazy
• Polygynous and precocial

Question 7

How many piglets can a sow produce?

1 pt

Answer 7

30 piglets per sow per year

Question 8

How does selecting for a nest site work in sows?

2 pts

Answer 8

• starts 1-2 days before parturition (looking for an isolated area for nest building) - induced by hormones
• in a range of 5 - 10 km (safety - protected and isolated)

Question 9

What is the function of nest building?

3 pts

Answer 9

• Facilitates recognition of litter
• Sow treats litter as ‘an entity’
• Delayed individual recognition
• We use this in a production setting for cross-fostering

Question 10

What texture and temperature do piglets prefer?

Answer 10

warm and soft

Question 11

How do farrowing crates limit sow behaviour and movement and why do we use them?

4 pts

Answer 11

• Nest building
• Turning around
• Interacting with piglets

stops crushing of piglets

Question 12

How does feeding a litter work for sows?

4 pts

Answer 12

• Parturition takes 1-3 hours
• Colostrum is available continuously for 6-8 hours
• Then sporadically, eventually only during nursing sequence
• Establishment of teat order

Question 13

How does teat order work in piglets?

3 pts

Answer 13

Established quickly after birth
* Piglets fight more during the 2nd hr after birth than during the 8th hr
* Individual piglet teat order: within an hour after birth and before the last piglet is born
* Litter as a whole: within 3 days

Question 14

Which animals have shown sibling rivalry?

3 pts

Answer 14

• Pigs
• Hyenas
• Birds

Question 15

What are the nursing behaviours in sows?

4 pts

Answer 15

• oxytocin level increases, sow grunts, let down of milk
• A sow nurses approx. every hour (nursing for 4-10 mins, nutritive nursing for 15-20 sec)
• Followed by period of non-nutritive suckling
• Milk production - piglets gain 20g each nursing

Question 16

What teat do calves prefer?

1 pt

Answer 16

highest part of underbelly, flank (shorter time suckling)