Operant Performance at a Feeding Station in Rural Pennsylvania

1982 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 537-542
Author(s):  
Ronald Baenninger
Keyword(s):  
Operant Performance ◽  
Feeding Station

Operant Performance by Rats for Alcohol Reinforcement; A Comparison of Alcohol-Preferring and Nonpreferring Animals

1964 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy K. Mello ◽  
Jack H. Mendelson
Keyword(s):  
Operant Performance

Commentary: Not All Vulture Feeding Stations Are Supplementary—Proposed Terminology for Carcass Provisioning with Reference to Management Goals and Food Sources

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivier Duriez ◽  
Jovan Andevski ◽  
Christopher G. R. Bowden ◽  
Alvaro Camiña-Cardenal ◽  
Hans Frey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Supply ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Carcass Disposal ◽  
Feeding Station ◽  
Vulture Conservation ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Conservation And Management

ABSTRACT Although vulture feeding stations are a widely used tool for vulture conservation in many regions worldwide, there has been some confusion about their functions and this is reflected in the range of terminology used. The origin of food supply at provisioning sites (both for in situ and ex situ situations) and the goals of feeding station managers (ranging from purely conservation of vultures to the necessity for carcass disposal) are two key aspects that are often neglected. We review the definitions and nomenclature for the provision of predictable anthropogenic food for vultures and vultures' role in sanitation in the landscape. We propose that “supplementary feeding stations for vultures” (SFSV) defines a particular case and this term should only be applied when a station has vulture conservation goals and a food supply coming from outside of the landscape (ex situ). We introduce the term “recycling station with vultures” (RSV) for cases when the goal is the elimination of carcasses and the food is sourced in situ (natural, NRSV) or ex situ (supplementary food, SRSV). This clarification of goals and terminology for feeding stations worldwide could have important consequences for the understanding and assessment of vulture conservation and management actions, among researchers and conservationists and also importantly among stakeholders and wider society.

scholarly journals Energy Requirement and Food Intake Behaviour in Young Adult Intact Male Cats with and without Predisposition to Overweight

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brigitta Wichert ◽  
Julia Trossen ◽  
Daniel Uebelhart ◽  
Marcel Wanner ◽  
Sonja Hartnack
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Food Intake ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Body Condition Score ◽  
Energy Requirement ◽  
Fat Free Mass ◽  
Energy Requirements ◽  
Intact Male ◽  
Feeding Station ◽  
Condition Score

Obesity is a common problem in cats. In the experimental cat family of the institute of animal nutrition besides a “normal” lean phenotype, cats with predisposition to an overweight phenotype are present. To investigate energy requirements and food intake behaviour of intact male cats of different phenotypes, six “normal” lean cats (GL) and six cats disposed to overweight (GO) were used. At the beginning of the experiment, all cats had an ideal body condition score of 5. To reach this the GO cats had to pass a weight-loss program. Energy requirements of the cats were determined using respiration chambers, whereas the amount and frequency of food intake was measured with a feeding station recording the data automatically. Energy requirement at weight constancy of the GO cats was even on fat-free mass (FFM) significantly (P=0.02) lower (162.6 kJ/kg FFM/d) than that of the “normal” lean cats (246 kJ/kg FFM/d). The GO cats also showed a higher food intake34.5±1.5 g dry matter/kg body weight0.67compared to the GL cats (24.0±2.1 g dry matter/kg body weight0.67)(P=0.001). In conclusion quantifiable differences in food intake and behaviour in cats predisposed to overweight compared to “normal” lean cats were found.

scholarly journals 150 The effect of competition for an automated supplement feeder on supplement intake behavior of stocker steers

2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 64-64
Author(s):  
Taylor C Husz ◽  
Carla Goad ◽  
Ryan R Reuter
Keyword(s):  
Study Design ◽  
Stocking Density ◽  
Random Variable ◽  
Experimental Unit ◽  
Rfid Tags ◽  
Beef Steers ◽  
Effective Competition ◽  
Feeding Station ◽  
Mixed Breed ◽  
Supplement Intake

Abstract The objective of this research was to determine the effect of competition for a feeding space at an automated supplement feeder on supplement intake behavior. A 2 yr study was conducted; each yr, 128 mixed-breed beef steers (n = 256, initial BW = 245 ± 27.5 kg) were randomly assigned to 8 paddocks. One paddock each yr (n = 16 steers) was selected to have continuous access to the feeder for the duration of the 16 wk trial; this paddock was designated the “tester” paddock. The automated feeder had 4 feeding stations that dispensed supplement after eligible animal’s RFID tags were read by the electronics of the feeder. Steers were limited to 0.50 kg supplement/d. Weekly, additional paddocks were commingled with the tester paddock to increase competition for the feeder. This resulted in a stocking density from 4 to 32 steers per feeding station. For yr 2, one feeding station was disabled, resulting in a stocking density of 5.3 to 42.7 steers per feeding station. Approximately 31% of the steers did not voluntarily use the feeder; therefore, effective competition was less than the study design. Mean weekly supplement intake and GPS location were recorded for steers in the tester paddock. Additionally, pedometer data were collected in yr 2. Weekly mean supplement intake and time spent near the feeder were regressed on actual feeder stocking density with yr as a random variable; wk was the experimental unit (n = 16 wk). Tester steers consumed an average of 0.27 kg supplement/d. Competition for a feeding station numerically reduced (P = 0.01) supplement intake by 5 g/d per steer of additional competition. Steers spent 4.4% of the time within 15 m of the feeder regardless of competition (P = 0.54). As competition increased, steers took more steps (P < 0.01). These data illustrate that in environments similar to this experiment, the feeder can be stocked with at least 20 animals per feeding station with minimal effects on supplement intake.

Sex Differences in Feeding Behaviour at Feeding Station Scale in Soay Sheep (Ovis Aries)

Behaviour ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 141 (8) ◽  
pp. 999-1020 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Ovis Aries ◽  
Intake Rate ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Soay Sheep ◽  
Food Items ◽  
Feeding Station ◽  
Foraging Decisions ◽  
Mouth Size ◽  
Mechanistic Response

AbstractHerbivorous ungulates live in a spatially heterogeneous environment making foraging decisions at a range of hierarchical scales, from bite size to landscape. We investigated the factors that control intake rate in Soay sheep (Ovis aries) when discrete items of food were sparsely distributed at the feeding station scale. Within the feeding station we varied the difficulty of accessing food, distance between items of food, difficulty of finding the food and complexity of the feeding station and recorded how intake rate responded in relation to body size, mouth size and the sex of the animal. Our findings demonstrated how increasing difficulty of accessing food, and increasing complexity of the feeding station negatively affected intake rate. The expected mechanistic response that smaller animals or animals with smaller mouth size were better at handling discrete small items of food, was overridden by individual and sexual differences in behaviour. We also considered that intake rate within a feeding station could be maximised by optimising the spatial pattern of offtake, and the results clearly indicated that both sexes tended to show clustered patterns of offtake. Animals of the same sex responded in a similar way to the difficulty in handling food items; males persevered more than females and consequently were less handicaped by having larger mouths. We discussed these results in relation to behavioural and body mass differences between the sexes and animals.

Black-tailed deer feeding bouts: dynamic events

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (6) ◽  
pp. 1353-1362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. Gillingham ◽  
Fred L. Bunnell
Keyword(s):  
Food Preference ◽  
Odocoileus Hemionus ◽  
Diet Selection ◽  
Odocoileus Hemionus Columbianus ◽  
Food Items ◽  
Dynamic Events ◽  
Feeding Station ◽  
Ad Libitum ◽  
Preferred Foods ◽  
First Time

Foraging bouts of captive black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus Richardson) were investigated to examine how searching for food affects diet selection. We determined food preference for three types of food under ad libitum conditions and then studied the foraging of two deer in a 0.5-ha, vegetation-free pen in which we controlled food availability and distribution of the same three types of food. Our hypotheses included the following: (i) clumping of preferred food into patches would enable animals to better exploit food distributions; (ii) the switch from preferred to lower-ranked food would be gradual as preferred food was less frequently encountered; and (iii) deer would respond to a lower abundance of preferred foods by eating more of lower-ranked food items at each feeding location. Searching for food alone did not alter diet selection from ad libitum conditions. Deer nearly exhausted their highly preferred food item before switching to lower-ranked ones. Amount of preferred food already eaten during a trial was positively correlated with the time that animals continued searching before switching to lower-ranked food items. Switching was related to amount and type of food encountered and not to amount of food in the pen. Clumping of the preferred food had no significant effect on the amount of food eaten, but did significantly influence types of food encountered by one deer. When preferred food was abundant, it was not always completely eaten the first time a feeding platform was visited. Increases in the intake rates of nonpreferred food items resulted from deer visiting more feeding stations containing nonpreferred food items and not from deer eating more food at each feeding station.

Pinpointing food sources: olfactory and anemotactic orientation in desert ants, Cataglyphis fortis

2000 ◽  
Vol 203 (5) ◽  
pp. 857-868 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Wolf ◽  
R. Wehner
Keyword(s):  
Food Source ◽  
Video Tracking ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Integration Scheme ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Feeding Site ◽  
Desert Ants ◽  
Feeding Station ◽  
Visually Based ◽  
Cataglyphis Fortis

Desert ants, Cataglyphis fortis, search for a repeatedly visited food source by employing a combined olfactory and anemotactic orientation strategy (in addition to their visually based path-integration scheme). This behaviour was investigated by video-tracking consecutive foraging trips of individually marked ants under a variety of experimental conditions, including manipulations of the olfactory and wind-detecting systems of the ants. If the wind blows from a constant direction, ants familiar with the feeding site follow outbound paths that lead them into an area 0.5-2.5 m downwind of the feeding station. Here, the ants apparently pick up odour plumes emanating from the food source and follow these by steering an upwind course until they reach the feeder. If the food is removed, foragers usually concentrate their search movements within the area downwind of the feeding site. Only when the wind happens to subside or when tail-wind conditions prevail do the ants steer direct courses towards the food. Elimination of olfactory input by clipping the antennal flagella, or of wind perception by immobilising the bases of the antennae, altered the foraging behaviour of the ants in ways that supported these interpretations. Ants with clipped flagella were never observed to collect food items.

Feeding behaviour of pigs in groups monitored by a computerised feeding system

1991 ◽  
Vol 1991 ◽  
pp. 54-54
Author(s):  
R.J. Young ◽  
A.B. Lawrence
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Growing Pigs ◽  
Recording Equipment ◽  
Large White ◽  
Selection Environment ◽  
Feeding Station ◽  
Commercial Farms ◽  
Selection Testing ◽  
Grower Diet ◽  
Food Consumed

Recently computerised pig feeding has attracted interest from pig breeding companies, to improve selection. Testing has in the past been carried out on Individually housed pigs, whereas on commercial farms pigs are group housed and correlations between these two environments can be poor. Practically this problem can be solved by group housing pigs with an electronic feeding station. This system allows one pig to feed at a time and records each pigs Identity and the amount of food consumed, making the selection environment similar to conditions found on commercial farms. This paper presents results showing the strong effect of social factors on the feeding behaviour of Individual growing pigs In such a system.The subjects were 30 male and 30 female Large White X Landrace pigs (Cotswold Pig Development Co. Ltd, Lincoln UK), divided Into six groups of ten, balanced for sex and initially body weight (mean starting and finishing weight 32.1 vs 68.5kg) within a pen but not between pens. Measurements of feeding behaviour (see below) were continuously monitored for an average of 38 days, by one electronic feeding station (Feed Intake Recording Equipment, developed by Hunday Electronics Ltd.) In each pen. The pigs were fed on a standard pelleted grower diet.

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