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WALLAGA UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF VETERINARY MEDICINE

ANIMAL BEHAVIORAND WELFARE (Vetm3162)

Biyansa Adugna (DVM, MPH-VPH)
FOR: Year III, DVM Students

By: Biyansa Adugna (DVM, MPH-VPH, Asst. Prof)

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CHARACTERISTICS OF FARM
ANIMALS BEHAVIOR

Animal behavior & Welfare Biyansa Adugna (DVM, MPH-VPH, Assist. Prof) WU, 2024
 4.1. Behavior of cattle
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 Vision and other special senses:

 Cattle have panoramic vision of 330° and binocular vision of
25°–50°
 Their larger field of vision gives them a much smaller blind (only
behind them)
 Cattle have slit-shaped pupils and weak eye muscles, which
inhibits their ability to focus quickly on objects
 They distinguish long wavelength colors (yellow, orange &red)
much better than the shorter wavelengths (blue, grey & green)
color
 While grazing, cattle constantly sniff the pasture, but it is not
known if plants are rejected on the basis of odor.
 Cattle can distinguish smell, e.g. they will baulk at the smell of
blood and offal
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 The sense of touch is important in determining which herbage

is rejected or preferred.
 The secondary/special olfactory system can detect
pheromones, volatile chemicals that are important in
reproduction and feed selection
 The ears of cattle are very sensitive
 Cattle can be calmed by playing soothing music, or stressed
by loud noises such as yelling
 Dairy breeds are more sensitive to sound and touch than
beef breeds
 Hearing in cattle is important in inter- and intra-species
communication.
5

 Cattle flight zones can vary greatly.

 Feedlot cattle may move away from people, especially
strangers, entering their flight zone of 1.5m, whereas less
handled range cattle have a flight zone of 30m.
 Cutaneous sensitivity can be used to calm cattle by scratching
under the neck and behind the ears, areas they find difficult
to access
 Sensory input at the level of the penis is important for sexual
behavior during mounting
 Older cattle grazing on rangelands will spend less time
grazing than younger cattle due to their experience and
learned paddock patterns
Social organization, dominance hierarchies
and leadership
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 Under farm conditions the dairy herd is organized into a

social hierarchy.
 Age and weight to be significantly correlated with rank, and
height at the withers is also a contributing factor in steers.
 Dominance and eating behavior have been observed in beef
cattle where only one animal at a time could eat, and it was
found that high-ranking cattle had fewer meals but tended to
spend more time per day eating.
 Also dominant cattle did not prevent subordinates from
gaining access to the stall, and the lower-ranking cattle
replaced higher-ranking cattle as frequently as they were
replaced by higher ranking cattle
 SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR
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 As the cow reaches oestrus the bull becomes very excited
and follows her closely, licking and smelling her external
genitalia and often exhibiting flehmen
 The bull uses the tongue to transfer fluid (probably
urine) to a short incisive spur located on the dental pad.
It is then transferred to the vomeronasal organ which is
considered to be the site of pheromone identification.
 Pre-copulatory patterns include pawing the ground and
snorting, chin resting on the cow’s rump just before
mounting and then copulation
 MATERNAL-OFFSPRING BEHAVIOUR

 The mother licks the young to stimulate breathing,

circulation, urination and defecation.
 Suckling behavior begins 2-5 hours after birth and the
mother must be standing.
 The distance maintained between the cow and calf
increases steadily with time after calving but they keep in
contact by vocalizing
 ABNORMAL BEHAVIOURS

Mismothering. This may be due to the mother having suffered a long and difficult birth
and not being able to stand up for suckling. The calf may also be too weak to suckle.
It is common with cows calving in synchrony in intensively managed maternity groups.
Nymphomania. Increased sexual behavior. Such cows behave like bulls, pawing and
mounting other cows. It could be an inherited trait. It is usually associated with
follicular cysts.
Buller-Steer Syndrome. Is when one steer, the buller, being mounted and persistently
ridden by other steers, called rider. It causes weight loss, injury, illness and death
Masturbation: Bull will have a partial election, arch its back and perform pelvic trusts
Poor libido: The bull refuse to mount, avoid estrous cow, and be unable to develop an
erection
Aggression:
Kicking
Intersuckling
Cross-fostering
 ABNORMAL BEHAVIOURS…….
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 Atypical sexual behaviour, such as nymphomania,

homosexuality, hypersexuality, masturbatory behaviour,
may be caused by genetic flaws, endocrine imbalances,
management problems.
 Masturbation in males is common, especially in bulls on a
high protein diet
 Humans may modify behaviour by processes such as
castration, spaying and endocrine implants to increase
production and ease of handling.
 2. SHEEP BEHAVIOR
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VISION AND OTHER SPECIAL SENSES: Sheep have panoramic vision of

330°–360° and binocular vision of 25°–50°.
 They are thought to have colour vision and are able to distinguish
between a variety of colors, black, red, brown, green, yellow & white
 They have no accommodation, so must lift the head to see distant

objects
 They are unable to judge depth.

 Sheep eyes possess very low hyperopia with little astigmatism(lense

defect)
 When sheep are grazing they maintain visual contact with each other.

 Each sheep throws its head to check the position of the other sheep

 Taste is the most important sense in establishing forage preferences,

with sweet and sour plants

 SOCIAL ORGANISATION, DOMINANCE HIERARCHIES AND
LEADERSHIP
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 Dominance:- In domestic flocks, sheep will compete for small amounts of food
by pushing and shoving rather than active bunting. There is little or no sign of
dominance
 The number of dominance fights within flocks is higher in single-sex, single-
age groups than in mixed sex groups of varying ages
 Social groups:- Sheep form strong social groups that are stable and the social
organization of the flock influences grazing patterns. They are not randomly
dispersed in any environment and free-ranging groups in the use of
resources, particularly vegetation.
 Young lambs form strong social bonds with each other or other objects
 Sexual Behaviour:-The odour of the estrous ewe stimulates the ram, although
it is the ewe who seeks out the ram and stays close beside it
 The male responds to urination of the oestrous female by sniffing, extending
the neck and curling the lip (Flehmen)
 MATERNAL–OFFSPRING BEHAVIOUR

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 Suckling behaviour is modified by ewe behavior and this affects the strength of the
bond between ewe and lamb.
 Lambs recognize their mothers’ voices by individual differences, visual, vocal and
smell. It is important in the husbandry of lambing ewes for:
1. To produce lambs capable of finding teats and suckling successfully;
2. To produce ewes whose behaviour facilitates suckling.
Some circumstances delay suckling which will reduce the chances of successful suckling.
When:-
1. Mother remains lying after birth;
2. Mother circles;
3. Mother is absent- she may be attending to one twin
4. The weather may be too hot or too cold.
 The sheep producer can help to ensure that suckling is successful through:-

1. Environmental control such as positioning of shade, shelter, food and water;

2. Supervision of lambing; and
3. Selection of suitable breeds who make good mothers
 3. Behavior of Horses
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VISION AND OTHER SPECIAL SENSES

 They have panoramic vision of 330° to 350° and binocular

vision of 60° to 70°.
 The blind zone accounts for a proportion of startle responses,
including shying.
 The width of the blind zone is determined by the level at which
the head is carried.
 Horses also have night vision and are thought to see colours.
Yellow test colours were identified most easily, followed by
greens, then blues, with reds the least.
 The horse’s hearing is similar to humans but it has been
suggested that they might hear a higher pitch than we do
 Cont.……….
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 The olfactory senses are well developed.

 Horses have a sense of taste that discriminates between safe
and toxic plants with variable accuracy and may be useful in
detecting sources of trace elements .
 Horses are very sensitive to tactile stimulation especially
around the muzzle and ears, and it is important to be aware
of this when handling them
 There are zones of cutaneous sensation that can be plotted
according to their effectiveness in reducing heart rate during
allogrooming (mutual grooming) .
 The cutaneous sensitivity of horses is used to control horses by
a process of negative reinforcement.
 Positive reinforcement is rarely used in horse-riding
SOCIAL ORGANISATION, DOMINANCEAND LEADERSHIP
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Dominance.: Domesticated groups show expressions of dominance

in competitive situations, e.g. for a restricted food source. The
feces of a subordinate are often topped by a more dominant
individual.
 Bodyweight, but not age, appears to affect rank, and the
daughters of a dominant mare were dominant within their own
herds.
Leadership. : This may be shown by the stallion in feral groups
and often by the dominant mare in domestic herds, although
other mares sometimes lead
 Agonistic behavior is also dependent on herd size since, in
small groups, a linear dominance hierarchy is usual while
triangular and more complicated relationships can develop in
large herds.
 SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR
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 Horses are seasonally polyestrous. An unreceptive mare kicks,

squeals and lays back her ears if the stallion approaches.
 Receptive mares indicate readiness for mounting by standing
still, spreading hind legs, lifting tail to one side, lowering the
pelvis and repeatedly exposing the pink tissue of the vulva
(‘winking’)
 Stallions are more responsive to olfactory stimuli from
conspecifics than are mares and geldings
 Foreplay is important and the male will smell, nibble and lick
the mare and exhibit flehmen (curling of the top lip to expose
teeth)
 Following ejaculation the stallion may smell the mare’s genital
area and the ground, flehmen and urinate.
 Masturbation is part of the normal Ethogram of male horses
 MATERNAL-OFFSPRING BEHAVIOUR

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 After birth, the mare remains lying down and if the foal moves within
reach she will nuzzle it.
 Once she stands up the mare nuzzles and vigorously licks the foal.
 The mare-foal bond seems to grow at the expense of the bond the
mare has with her herd affiliates.
 The mare keeps the foal away from direct contact with herd members
or intruders by calling it to her side and often by herding it away.
 The mare keeps the foal with her for many days until it gradually
begins to socialize with other horses. However, the mare–foal
relationship with nursing may continue for up to two years
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 Some mares may resist suckling and in extreme cases the foal
is kicked and bitten.
 Fostering is difficult and the mare probably recognizes her foal by
smell, visual and auditory cues. When attempting to foster a foal, it
is advisable to mask an introduced foal’s odor by smearing it with
the prospective surrogate dam’s own milk and applying her own
feces to the tail and head of the foal
 It also helps to apply vaporous ointments to the nostrils of nurse
mares prior to the removal of their own foals.
 Mares accept foals within 1 to 12 hours of an introduction but it is
not advisable to leave the pair unsupervised until they have been
together for three days.
 Coprophagy (eating feces) is normal in foals and commonly occurs
at 4–6 weeks of age, possibly as a means of learning preferred
forage types
 ABNORMAL BEHAVIOURS
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 Stereotypic behaviors are characterized by being

repetitive, relatively invariant and apparently functionless.
 They include frequent urination, weaving (where a horse
rocks to and fro), and crib-biting (where a horse grasps
some fixed object with its incisor teeth and swallows air).
 These behaviors may be due to boredom associated with
lack of exercise and it is suggested they may be learned
behaviors
 Abnormal Behavior
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 Wind-sucking (where the horse swallows air without the aid of a

fixed object), licking walls, gnawing woodwork, and pressing the
head against a fixed object are other abnormal behaviors that
indicate some changes in the physiological or psychological
condition of the horse.
 These behaviors can sometimes be eliminated by giving the horse
more outdoor exercise or by introducing a companion animal, e.g. a
donkey or a goat.
 Abnormal sexual behavior is also sometimes seen. The stallion may
fail to obtain an erection, have incomplete intromission or lack of
pelvic thrusts, may dismount at the onset of ejaculation or fail to
ejaculate.
 These abnormalities may be associated with several factors, lack of
libido, association of copulation with pain or previous injury, or
injuries received during breeding
 4. Behavior of Swine
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Vision

 Pigs have panoramic vision of about 310°, and binocular

vision of 35-50°.
 Pigs are inquisitive and this must be remembered when
moving them
 If they are not hurried and can explore as they go along,
they can be driven without effort
 The extent to which pigs have color vision is still a source of
some debate
 However, the presence of rods and cones with two distinct
wavelength sensitivities in the blue and green frequencies
 It suggests that at least some color vision is present
 4. Behavior of Swine…..
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 Pigs have a well-developed sense of smell and to locate

underground truffles.
 Hearing is also well developed and localization of sounds is
made by moving the head
 Olfactory rather than visual stimuli are used in the
identification of conspecifics
 Pigs learn quickly to manipulate food and water devices, to
turn fans on and off and to turn on a source of radiant heat
 Auditory stimuli are used extensively by pigs as a means of
communication in all social activities
 Alarm or aversive stimuli are transmitted to conspecifics not
only by auditory cues but also via pheromones
 SOCIAL ORGANISATION, DOMINANCE HIERARCHIES
AND LEADERSHIP
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 The basis of the social structure in feral pigs is the

matriarchal herd of several females and their offspring
 Males are not permanently associated with such herds,
and are often solitary or in bachelor groups
 In the domestic situation pigs may be kept together with
litter mates throughout their lives or be grouped with
strange pigs of similar age and size
 There are two types of social organization in the domestic pig.
a. Teat order;
b. Dominance hierarchy.
 A) Teat order
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 Within the first few hours to two weeks after farrowing, the piglets
become capable of recognizing their positions on the udder and
preferentially attach themselves to anterior rather than posterior teats
 It has been shown that stimulation of the anterior teats appeared to be
important in causing milk letdown so it might be to the advantage of the
entire litter to have these teats occupied by healthy piglets
 Most fights that occur in young piglets are around the udder and more
fights were won at the permanent nursing site than away from it
 They called this the ‘home-court advantage’ and found that fighting
declined as the nursing order was established
 Using an artificial sow to rear groups of piglets, suggested that
recognition of a teat in a particular area of the udder depended on
visual orientation by means of reference points on the udder to find the
area, and then the olfactory sense is used for the Search within that area
 B) Dominance hierarchy.
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 This is the social organization established in groups of weaned pigs
 When a number of unacquainted pigs are mixed together for the
first time, they fight to establish a dominance hierarchy
 The fighting behaviour is generally mouth-to-neck attacks with
strong thrusts sideways and upwards
 The establishment of the hierarchy occurs within 24 hours of mixing
but the level of aggression drops dramatically after one hour
 The dominance hierarchy is important as the social rank appears to
influence productivity by reducing disturbances., a group stabilizer,
but under adverse, intensive conditions, animals low on the
hierarchy may be disadvantaged by lack of food and water
 A pig at the bottom of the hierarchy is treated as a stranger and
attacked when returned after three days
 Pigs probably recognize each other by sight and smell
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Huddling behavior: Pigs are very susceptible to hot conditions and

the rate of sweating is very low, so there is inadequate
thermoregulatory compensation by respiratory evaporative loss
 In the feral state, pigs seek shade and wallow in mud or water
and become more active at night
 Young pigs are sensitive to cold and a behavioral feature
retained through a pig’s life is the stimulus to huddle with
littermates
 Nest-building activity in the natural state provides shelter from
environmental extremes
Leadership: No clear relationship between leadership, exploratory
behavior or social rank in groups of pigs in an outdoor area
Dominant pre-weaned piglets have higher growth
 SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR
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 Courtship behaviour lasts only a short time when a boar is placed in

a small pen with an estrous female
 The sow plays the critical role of meeting sexual partners as boars
show equal choice between an oestrous and an anoestrous sow
 The male sniffs the female, noses sides, flanks and vulva, and emits
a ‘mating song’ of soft gutteral grunts (6–8 seconds)
 He foams at the mouth and moves his jaw from side to side as the
female poses and bites the male’s ears gently
 When the sow becomes stationary the boar mounts.
 Androstenone within boar saliva aids in eliciting the standing
response in the sow some sows are more attractive to boars than
others and occasionally a sow may avoid and refuse to stand for a
specific boar
 Rearing females in isolation from males delays the standing
response of the females once they are introduced to boars
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 Pheromones in boar saliva and preputial secretions induce oestrus

in gilts and sows (this is known as the boar effect)
 The presence of stimuli from boars (odour) will induce earlier
puberty in gilts than if no other stimuli were present
 The social environment that boars have been raised in influences
their levels of sexual activity
 Boars that engage in more courting activity, especially nosing of the
sow’s flanks before mating, have higher conception rates
 Extra flank-nosing might stimulate=> oxytocin release from the
sow’s pituitary gland =>uterus contraction => increase sperm
transport and the number of sperm in the oviduct =>increase the
chances of fertilization
 Dominant boars cover the markings of subordinate animals with
urine that is often contaminated with preputial secretions
 MATERNAL-OFFSPRING BEHAVIOUR
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 In a paddock the sow will nest-build for up to six hours before parturition
 Pigs of lower social status tend to produce litters with piglets that are
lighter in weight
 Dominant sows give birth to more male piglets than do subordinate ones
 Nursing is frequent, every 50-60 minutes, and requires stimulation from
piglets before milk let-down
 Sensory inputs (vocalization, odours from mammary and birth fluids and
hair patterns of the sow are important immediately post-birth to facilitate
teat location by the piglets
 Initially, the piglets jostle for position at the udder, then each piglet
massages around its respective teat with its snout, during which time the
sow grunts at slow, regular intervals
 Each series of grunts varies in frequency, tone and magnitude, indicating
 MATERNAL-OFFSPRING BEHAVIOUR
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 The phase of competition for teats and of nosing the udder,

lasts for about one minute, and ends when milk flow begins
 The piglets hold the teats in their mouths and suck with slow
mouth movements (one per second), and the rate of the sow’s
grunting increases and lasts about 20 seconds.
 The grunt peak does not coincide with milk ejection but rather
the release of oxytocin from the pituitary into the bloodstream.
 Piglets massage and suckle the sow’s teats after milk flow
ceases as a way of letting the sow know their nutritional status.
This helps her to regulate the amount of milk released from
that teat in future suckling.
 MATERNAL-OFFSPRING BEHAVIOUR
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 The more intense the post-feed massaging of a teat, the greater the
future milk release from that teat will be
 It is often hard to tell if the nursing episode is initiated by the sow
or the piglets and almost any disturbance causes the piglets to rise,
squeal and then nurse.
 The sound of one litter nursing may initiate nursing among other
litters
 Fostering piglets from one litter to another is often carried out in the
pig industry and it is recognized that sows may react aggressively
to foster piglets and that suckling periods are disrupted.
 Compared with control litters, cross-fostering disrupted the teat
order relationships of the whole litter. Weight gain of fostered
piglets during the second week was reduced to 79% of that in their
non fostered littermates. If fostering has to be done, it has more
chance of success if the piglets are only one to four days old
 MATERNAL-OFFSPRING BEHAVIOUR
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 Cross-fostering of piglets should be undertaken before teat order is established and involve
movement of larger piglets rather than small ones to minimize teat order disruption and
associated mortality and production losses

 In the natural environment, farrowing nests are built at least 100 m from the communal nest to
improve piglet survival

 PGF2α appears to be the hormonal regulator of nest building behaviors such as nosing,
rooting and pawing to create a depression, as well as the gathering of straw to line the nest

 Recognition between the sow and her piglets is by olfactory and vocal cues.

 Without human interference, weaning is finished by the time the piglets are about 17 weeks,
but it may begin as early as 4 weeks of age when the mother begins to reduce her nursing
efforts
 ABNORMAL BEHAVIOUR
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 Abnormal behaviors often found in pig units include:

 1. Tail and ear biting: due to deficiency in iron , low fiber feed
 2. Cannibalism; husbandry system problem
 3. Abnormal mating behaviour and abnormal maternal behavior;
 4. Eating too much or too little; dominance relationships that prevent
some animals from having access to food and water;
 5. Abnormal dunging habits;
 6. Persistent inguinal nose thrusting (PINT). PINT is occurring when a
pig repeatedly thrusts its nose into the inguinal area of a resting pig
with the top of its snout, until the recipient pig moves. It is a behavior
pattern of high-ranking pigs, although other pigs do it;
 8. Snout rubbing, when pigs rub their snouts on the flanks of other
pigs causing necroses areas.
 5. Behavior of poultry
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 VISION AND OTHER SPECIAL SENSES

 Chickens have panoramic vision of about 300°, and binocular vision of
26°
 Sight is an acute sense and colour vision is important.
 Preference is probably for colours that are easiest to see against a green
background, and this ability to discriminate colour is unlearned.
 One-day-old chicks prefer to peck at round rather than angular objects
They also prefer to peck small (0.3 cm), solid objects, but would rather
approach fairly large ones, especially if moving or making a rhythmical
noise
 Selection of food is based on visual cues and immediate taste cues
 If the composition of the food changes due to availability of grains, the
hens may not change easily to eating seeds of a different shape or colour
 5. Behavior of poultry
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 Hearing is an acute sense in chickens, and communication within

and among flocks of birds takes place mainly via signals
provided by postures, displays and vocalizations.
 Postures and displays are used to signal threat and
submission.
 The varieties of vocalizations are in the categories of warning
and predator alarm calls; contact calls; territorial calls; laying
and nesting calls; mating calls; threat calls; submissive calls;
distress, alarm or fear calls; contentment calls; and food calls.
 Morphological features associated with the head and neck are
important for both communication and social recognition.
 Comb size and colour in males and females are influenced by
the levels of sex hormone and are indicators of social status
Little is known about the sense of smell
 SOCIAL ORGANISATION, DOMINANCE HIERARCHIES
AND LEADERSHIP
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 There are three common types of husbandry systems used for

intensively housed chickens:
 Cages: Chickens are kept in groups of 3–10 birds in cages with
space allowances of 350-600 cm2 per bird.
 Meat chicken sheds: These hold from 10,000–70,000 meat birds,
housed on litter in either semi-enclosed or environmentally closed
houses. Stocking densities vary from 30–50 kg live weight per m2
 Breeder sheds: These house flocks of several thousands in semi-
enclosed or enclosed housing on litter or wire
 The male to female ratio is about 1 to 8–15, with the space
allowance of 0.2–0.3 m2 per bird
 The social organization differs in these systems but peck orders
emerge in cages and breeder sheds
 Peck orders are regarded as highly stable once established, and in
mixed groups, males and females have their own peck order
38

 Dominance status
 One aspect of social behaviour arising from a group of individuals living
together temporarily or permanently is the existence of social hierarchies or
pecking orders.
 A pecking order is a dominance hierarchy in which animals within a group
are arranged according to status. E.g. In a group of hens sharing a hen house,
a linear order is found in which hen A will peck any other hen in the group,
hen B will peck all hens other than A and so on.
 The position in the hierarchy is usually decided by some agonistic form of
behaviour other than fighting.
 Pecking orders exist only where animals are able to recognize each other as
individuals and possess some ability to learn.
 Factors determining the position of individuals in the hierarchy include: size,
strength, fitness and aggressiveness.
 Lower order male members may be raised up the hierarchy by injection of
testosterone which increases their levels of aggressiveness.
39

 Advantages of pecking order

 1. It decreases the amount of individual aggression associated with
feeding, mate selection and breeding site selection.
 2. It avoids injury to the stronger animals which might occur if
fighting was necessary to establish the hierarchy.
 3. It ensures that resources are shared out so that the fittest survive.
 E.g. if a group of 100 hens is provided with sufficient food for only 50
hens, it is preferable, in terms of the species, for 50 hens to be adequately
fed and the weaker 50 hens die than for them all to live and receive only
half rations, as this might prevent successful breeding.
 4. Social hierarchy increase genetic vigor of the group by ensuring
that the strongest and genetically fittest animals have an advantage
when it comes to reproducing
 SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR
40
 A series of displays occurs before mating, based on a stimulus-response
sequence initiated by the male.
 Male courtship displays are generally elaborate, involving vocalizations
and noises, postures, spreading of the feathers to increase apparent size
and emphasize plumage characteristics
 Sexual behaviour and dominance relationships are important in the
management of mating. Because the female must crouch to elicit courting
behaviour in the male and this is also a submissive behaviour, high-status
females are often difficult to mate
 Although it is never done commercially, research suggests that to overcome
this, chickens may be sub-flocked and this reduces the number of individuals
each may dominate or be submissive towards
 When high-ranking hens are isolated from hens lower in the peck order,
they crouch more often than when in the larger flock, and hens in the middle
and lower thirds of the peck order crouched less often
 MATERNAL–OFFSPRING BEHAVIOUR

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 Maternal behaviour or broodiness has been selected out of commercial

laying strains so it is not important in intensive poultry husbandry systems.
 In a broody hen with chicks, a bond is formed and the chicks learn to
respond to the maternal feeding call, distress call and to the hen’s ‘purring’
sound as she settles down.
 Repeated exposure to her, accompanied by food, guidance and protection,
strengthen the filial bond.
 Exposure to maternal calls during embryonic development may be important
for the development of post-hatch species-specific maternal call recognition.
 Precocial (hatched), birds are self-sufficient after hatching, but parents serve
an important protective function while also teaching the chicks about edible
and inedible foods.
 Precocial chicks imprint on their parents in the first few days of life.
 Imprinted chicks remain close to the imprinted object, which is normally a
parent, but under laboratory conditions may be a variety of different
objects.
 ABNORMAL BEHAVIOUR
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 1. Sometimes males will hound other males, which can be a problem.

 2. Caged birds may exhibit some abnormal behavior such as head flicks and
feather pecking, i.e., pecking and pulling the feathers of other birds.
Experience in early life with ground pecking may influence pecking
behaviour in later life
 The motivation for the redirection of ground-pecking happens when the
incentive value of the ground is low, compared with the incentive value of
pecking substrates
 In high-density situations, the birds and feathers make up a higher proportion
of stimuli relative to the litter area. It is possible that the birds may perceive
the feathers as dust and that may cause a redirection of ground pecking to
feather-pecking.
 3. In some housing systems, cannibalism can be a problem.
 4. Pseudo-mating occurs most frequently between high ranking males and
low-ranking males, who are pursued and trodden and indicates that
dominance relationships are important
 The same situation may occur in flocks of hens