Behavioral Adjustments in Hot Weather | Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science Optional for UPSC PDF Download

Introduction

In the animal kingdom, survival is often a dance with the environment, especially when faced with the challenges of hot weather. Various species exhibit fascinating behavioral adjustments to cope with rising temperatures. From seeking shade to altering grazing patterns, these adaptations highlight the intricate ways in which animals ensure their well-being in the heat. Let's explore the unique strategies employed by sheep, pigs, camels, cattle, and others to stay cool and comfortable in hot conditions. 

Sheep:

• Look for shade, especially for the head.
• Face away from the sun and stop walking or grazing when shade is unavailable.
• Unshorn sheep become lethargic and lie down.

Swine (Pigs):

• Seek wet spots in the shade and wallow in mud or water.
• Root up the ground and lie on cooler subsoil.
• Wallow in water pools for evaporative cooling.
• Adopt sleeping positions with snouts against the cool wind.

Camels:

• Sit in the desert to minimize sun exposure.

Cattle:

• Pant, drool, and sweat to cool down.
• Increase water consumption and reduce heat production through voluntary anorexia.
• Change grazing patterns during extreme heat, often grazing at night.

Small Desert Animals:

• Feed at night to avoid high temperatures.
• Remain underground during the day.

Kangaroo Rat:

• Efficiently utilizes metabolic water due to scarcity of accessible drinking water.

Birds:

• Lose heat through evaporation from the mouth.
• Exhibit galair fluttering in extremely hot conditions, resembling rapid panting.

Heat Conservation in Animals:

• Baby pigs depend on maternal heat until a few days old.
• Huddling is a common social behavior for heat conservation, especially in cold climates.
• Animals with fur face into the cold wind to retain warm air.

Grazing Behavior:

• Horses tear off herbage using incisors.
• Cattle use their mobile tongue to encircle and draw in grass, leaving about half an inch from the soil.

Animal Grazing Habits: Understanding How They Eat

Sheep's Unique Grazing Method

• Overcome difficulty with cleft upper lip allowing close grazing.
• Use lower incisors against dental pad to sever grass with a slight forward and upward head movement.

Pigs' Inefficient Grazing

• Face challenges due to mouth anatomy and simple stomach structure.
• Cannot graze efficiently like sheep.

Cattle and Sheep Grazing Behavior

• Grazing time increases when forage quantity or quality is low.
• Sheep exhibit higher daily grazing time, grazing distance, rumination time, and chews per bolus compared to cattle.
• Grazing occurs in 4 to 7 periods within 24 hours.
• Intensive grazing starts at sunrise and ends at sundown.
• Longer grazing periods in early morning and late afternoon.

Factors Influencing Grazing

• Psychological, physiological, and mechanical factors contribute to selective grazing.
• Goats have a higher tolerance for bitter tastes than cattle.
• Camels have a higher threshold for bitter taste than goats.

Distance Traveled While Grazing

• Varies with climate, topography, forage availability, and animal species.
• Cattle travel an average of three miles per day; sheep travel farther.

Grazing Intake

• Differs based on species and live weight.
• Sheep tend to select forage higher in total digestible nutrients than cattle.

Parasite Control Through Grazing Behavior

• Cattle avoid herbage contaminated by feces, preventing nematode larvae ingestion.
• Young lambs develop parasitic resistance by ingesting larvae from certain plants.

Feeding Behavior in Ungulates

• Tongue, lips, and teeth used for grasping in ungulates.
• Sharp front incisors in rabbits for nibbling; tongue does not protrude during eating.

Carnivores' Eating Habits

• Carnivores gulp meals in large mouthfuls.
• Crack and swallow bones in pieces; cut meats into large thick pieces.

Specialized Feeding Patterns

• Rooting in swine involves turning over the surface soil.
• Geophagia in cattle involves earth-eating.
• Coprophagia in rabbits includes eating feces.
• Dogs exhibit primitive habits like chasing poultry or burying bones.

Animal Behaviors

Rumination Behavior

• Dependent on Diet: The time animals spend chewing cud depends on their diet.
• Daily Rumination Time: Typically ranges from 4 to 9 hours, constituting about three-quarters of grazing time.
• Influencing Factors: Climate, herbage quality, and quantity impact the relationship between grazing and rumination.
• Inhibited by Circumstances: Hunger, fear, pain, curiosity, or maternal anxiety can inhibit rumination.
• Oestrus Impact: During oestrus (heat), rumination intensity and extent decrease but do not stop.

Sexual Behavior

• Influences: Social environment, sensory capacities, and sexual stimuli shape sexual behavior.
• Three Categories:
  • Pre-copulatory patterns (courtship).
  • Copulatory patterns.
  • Post-copulatory patterns.
• Duration Variation: Long in swine, horses, and dogs; intermediate in cattle and sheep; brief in rabbits.

Maternal Behavior

• Includes:
  • Building maternal nests.
  • Cleaning and caring for young at birth.
  • Retrieving stray young.
  • Nursing and nurturing.
• Preparturient Behavior: Pregnant females seek isolation and shelter before giving birth.
• Post-partum Licking: Mothers lick themselves, newborns, and placental fluids.
• Placentophagy: Common in herbivores and carnivores; camels do not engage in licking.
• Sow's Behavior: Sow pays little attention until the last young is delivered; roots newborns towards the udder.

Thermoregulatory Function of Licking

• Newborn Care: Licking has a thermoregulatory function, especially in cold, wet, and windy conditions.
• Facilitates Functions: Promotes urination, defecation, and bonding between mother and newborn.

Nest Building

• Common in Polytocous Species: Swine, rabbits, and rodents engage in nest building.
• Clean and Dry Nests: Nests kept clean, dry, and free of waste.
• Timing and Quality: Swine start nest building 1-3 days before farrowing; affected by temperature.

Nursing Behavior

• Mother's Role: Involves fostering access to nipples, allowing young to suckle.
• Variation Among Species: Patterns, frequency, and duration of nursing vary among different species.

Animal Nursing Behavior

• Cattle, sheep, and horses stand while nursing.
• Swine spend equal time lying on both sides during nursing.
• Mother dogs or cats spend a lot of time with their young during the first week after giving birth.
• Lactation stops when young animals are removed, but regular availability of young can prolong lactation.

Neonate Behaviors

• Newborn animals have innate behaviors like suckling and play.
• Ungulate neonates can stand and walk shortly after birth.
• Mothers guide neonates to teats through licking, nuzzling, and nudging.

Social Behaviors

• Social behaviors involve interactions among animals, including sexual and maternal behaviors.
• Social organization refers to animals sticking together in groups, influenced by factors like species, breed, environment, and psychology.
• In group feeding, dominant animals get higher priority, and trough space is crucial.

Dominance and Agonistic Behavior

• Dominance order exists when feeder space is limited, seen through biting and pushing in pigs and pushing or butting in cattle, sheep, and goats.
• Dominance is influenced by age, weight, seniority, sex, and breed.
• Leadership in sheep is often the oldest ewe with the most descendants.

Communication

• Animals use communication to convey status, coordinate activities, warn of danger, establish territories, and initiate courtship.
• Communication involves vocalization, body posture, and smells among domestic animals.