Variety is the spice of life, and the best way to healthy animals, says Beth Burritt, a researcher at Utah State University. While her work on dietary preferences has been mostly on sheep, Burritt told the the Ultimate Sheep Seminar organized by the Battle River Research Group that it applies to most species of livestock.
Diet selection should be viewed as behaviour, she said. “Intake is a behaviour, as animals can choose to eat or not to eat. “Any behaviourist can tell you that behaviour depends on consequences. This principle outlines all the research that we’ve done in the past 30 years looking at livestock behaviour and diet selection,” Burritt said.
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Animals tend to repeat behaviour that has positive consequences and not to repeat behaviour that results in negative consequences, Burritt said. Experiences that animals have early in life shape their dietary experiences and preferences.
“Not surprisingly, Mom knows best and is a really good role model, especially if she’s in the area where she has been reared. Obviously she’s been successful at foraging that she’s been able to grow up and reproduce,” she said.
Lambs will eat what Mom eats and they will avoid what she avoids, said Burritt. Lambs that are not exposed to a food or are exposed alone will not consume it, she explained. Research has found that animals exposed to different feeds early in life by their mothers will remember consuming that feed and eat it years later. This phenomenon works for both good-quality and poor-quality foods, she said.
Good food, good signals
Nutrients present in a food generally increase its palatability. When food is digested and nutrients are released, messages are sent from the gut to the brain telling the animal that the food is good and should be eaten again. If an animal eats a food and feels ill due to toxins, palatability is decreased.
If animals have an excess of nutrients, this may decrease the palatability of a food.
“The closer a food meets an animal’s needs, the more palatable it is, and the larger a percentage of the diet it becomes,” Burritt said. “Palatability is the relationship between food flavour and feedback from nutrients and toxins and it’s determined by an animal physiological condition, the food’s chemical composition and the animal’s experience with the food,”
Flavours help an animal tell foods apart, and let it know whether it is good or harmful, Burritt said.
In general, animals are “neophobic” with regards to food, and are reluctant to try new foods that they have not been exposed to previously. Neophobia is a biological function that keeps animals from eating too much of an unfamiliar food and prevents them from getting ill.
Studies have shown that animals will eat a small dose of a new food on the first day, and will increase over time if they do not get ill. Animals that eat a diet high in protein will crave energy, while animals that are fed a diet high in energy will likely crave protein, Burritt said. If an animal eats a food that has a mild amount of toxins, it will likely want to eat something that doesn’t contain those toxins. Animals are individuals and will choose foods that help them correct nutritional deficiencies, , Burritt said.
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“Intake is a behaviour, as animals can choose to eat or not to eat.”
BETH BURRITT
UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY
