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Two experiments examined the effect of age and diet on behavioural responses of piglets to separation from the sow. In Experiment 1, the vocalizations of piglets were recorded during short term (10 min) isolation from the sow and litter-mates at 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks of age. From each of 10 litters, two piglets were assigned to each of the four age groups. Piglets of all ages vocalized intensely during isolation, but call rate was lower with older piglets, especially for high-frequency calls (> 500 Hz). When returned to the sow, piglets made distinctive 'quacking' vocalizations, and older piglets produced fewer of these calls than younger piglets. Experiment 2 involved two treatments: weaning age and diet quality. Piglets were weaned at either 2 weeks of age and onto a diet formulated for piglets of this age, or at 4 weeks of age and fed either a diet typically provided for piglets of this age or a more palatable and nutritionally complex diet. Three piglets from each of 16 litters were assigned to each of the three treatment groups. We monitored vocalizations over the first 3 days after weaning, and measured the incidence of belly-nosing during the subsequent week. Piglets weaned onto the standard diet at 4 weeks produced high-frequency calls (> 500 Hz) at a significantly higher rate than those weaned onto the more complex diet, but there was no effect of diet on the incidence of belly-nosing. Piglets weaned at 2 weeks produced more high-frequency calls and performed more belly-nosing than piglets weaned at 4 weeks onto either diet. Thus the behavioural response to separation is greater at younger ages both when the period of separation is too short for diet to be a factor (Experiment 1) and when younger piglets are provided with a specialized diet that allows them to achieve acceptable weight gain after weaning (Experiment 2). These results indicate that separation distress and frustration of suckling motivation are significant problems when piglets are weane

Age. --- Behavior. --- Belly-nosing. --- Boxes. --- Diet. --- Distress. --- Early separation. --- Early-weaned piglets. --- Experiment. --- Experiments. --- Frustration. --- Group. --- Isolation. --- Littermates. --- Management. --- Motivation. --- Need. --- Piglets. --- Pigs. --- Quality. --- Response. --- Responses. --- Separation. --- Sow. --- Time. --- Treatment. --- Vocal response. --- Vocalization. --- Weaning age. --- Weaning. --- Weight gain. --- Weight. --- Welfare.

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Female mink pups were weaned at 6, 8 or 10 weeks of age and subjected to two different housing conditions. They were either kept together with a single male sibling in traditional mink cages (30 X 45 X 90 cm) or housed socially with all litter-mates in an alternative system consisting of three adjoining traditional cages (90 x 45 x 90 cm). All cages were supplied with nest boxes. At 5 months of age, the siblings were removed leaving the females socially isolated in the two different cage systems. Females' stereotypies were quantified by repeated scanning observations under the social housing conditions immediately before removal of the siblings, and again at the age of 7 and 9 months, when the animals had stayed solitary in the two systems for 2 and 4 months. Solitary females showed significantly more stereotypies than females under social housing conditions in both cage systems. Stereotypies were more frequent in the smaller traditional cages. Stereotypies declined from 7 to 9 months of age among solitary animals in traditional cages but not in alternative cages. Early-weaned solitary females in traditional cages showed more stereotypies than later-weaned animals, but only when measured at the age of 7 months. It is suggested that early weaning, individual housing and small cages promote the development of stereotypies in farmed mink. The influence of early weaning on stereotypies seems to decline with age, while effects related to individual housing and small cages appear to be more persistent. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

Age. --- Animal. --- Animals. --- Behavior. --- Boxes. --- Cage size. --- Cage. --- Development. --- Early weaning. --- Female. --- Females. --- Housing conditions. --- Housing. --- Individual housing. --- Kept. --- Littermates. --- Male. --- Mink. --- Nest box. --- Nest. --- Observation. --- Pups. --- Social housing condition. --- Social housing. --- Social. --- Solitary. --- Stereotypies. --- Stereotypy. --- Stress. --- System. --- Systems. --- Time. --- Weaning age. --- Weaning.

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Artificial weaning in laboratory mice elicits increased levels of exploratory and escape behaviour. Under barren housing conditions patterns of exploration and escape subsequently develop into stereotypic behaviour. Weaning weight in wild house mice, Mus musculus domesticus, is known to affect offspring fitness, thus reduced weaning weight represents a risk to fitness. In male ICR-mice, Mus musculus, precocious weaning 3 days prior to standard weaning age tended to decrease growth rate in the long term, and differences in weaning weight of mice weaned at the standard age persisted into adulthood. Both plasma corticosterone levels 48 h after weaning and adult stereotypy levels were higher in precociously weaned mice, but also in animals weaned at the usual age but at a low weight. These results suggest that potential costs in terms of fitness may affect stress levels at the onset of stereotypy development and predispose ICR-mice to perform stereotypies at a high level when adult. (C) 1997 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour

Adult. --- Adulthood. --- Age. --- Animal behaviour. --- Animal. --- Animals. --- Artificial. --- Association. --- Bank voles. --- Behaviour. --- Clethrionomys-glareolus. --- Coping hypothesis. --- Corticosterone. --- Cost. --- Costs. --- Development. --- Escape. --- Exploration. --- Growth. --- House mice. --- Housing conditions. --- Housing. --- Induced jumping stereotypy. --- Laboratory mice. --- Laboratory. --- Level. --- Long-term. --- Male. --- Mice. --- Mus musculus. --- Mus-musculus-domesticus. --- Mus-musculus-l. --- Mus-musculus. --- Musculus. --- Pattern. --- Patterns. --- Plasma corticosterone. --- Plasma-corticosterone. --- Plasma. --- Reproductive success. --- Risk. --- Sex-ratio manipulation. --- Social-structure. --- Stereotypic behaviour. --- Stereotypic. --- Stereotypies. --- Stereotypy. --- Stress. --- Weaning age. --- Weaning. --- Weight. --- Wild house mice. --- Wild.

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From birth to first calving, the replacement heifer undergoes tremendous changes anatomically as well as in feeding and management practices. The calf changes from being a pseudo-monogastric to a full ruminant within a period of two months. During the same period, the calf is fed colostrum, milk, or milk replacer, and starter with or without hay. Notably, the lifetime milk production and health of a dairy cow is highly dependent on early life nutrition and management of the calf and, subsequently, the heifer. Hence, animal scientists continue to investigate critical areas such as colostrum feeding, the level of liquid feeding, gut microbial succession, energy and protein levels, housing, health management, and their interactions with the animal in an effort to help dairy producers raise successful and sustainable dairy enterprises.

Research & information: general --- Biology, life sciences --- betaine --- dairy cows --- newborn calves --- fat mobilization --- immunity --- calf --- glutamine --- autophagy --- apoptosis --- calf economics --- replacement --- ADG --- cost per kg --- calves --- rumen --- epithelium --- microbiota --- diet --- feed additives --- feeding management --- dairy calf --- involuntary culling --- mortality --- replacement heifer --- survival rate --- amino acid pattern --- Holstein heifers --- lysine --- methionine --- threonine --- heat stress --- yak calf --- early weaning --- caecal microbiota --- 16S rRNA gene sequencing --- growth performance --- heifer --- bull --- Simmental --- fattening --- management --- carcass and meat quality --- weaning age --- Holstein calves --- growth --- milk replacer --- metabolism --- development --- body condition score --- peripartum --- primiparous dairy cow --- pair housing --- individual housing --- behavior --- dairy calf feeding --- health --- welfare --- nutrition --- stakeholder attitudes --- forage --- performance --- rumen fermentation