Maternal Behavior in the Rabbit: Yearly and Seasonal Variation in Nest Building1)

Behaviour ◽  
1961 ◽  
Vol 18 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 154-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.H. Denenberg ◽  
P.B. Sawin ◽  
Sherman Ross ◽  
M.X. Zarrow
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Variation ◽  
Maternal Behavior ◽  
Oryctolagus Cuniculus ◽  
Nest Building ◽  
Successful Pregnancy

AbstractAn analysis was made of more than nine hundred successful parturitions in four strains of rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus, for the period, 1953-59. The strains studied were : III, IIIc, AcEp, and X. The results showed that the number of successful pregnancies (production of one or more live-born young) varied from 57 percent in the winter months to 82 percent during the summer. This pattern was significantly different among strains. Within the successful pregnancy group, the proportion of failures to build material nests did not change significantly from season to season or from year to year. The time of nest building was found to differ significantly among the strains.

scholarly journals Stress reactivity near birth affects nest building timing and offspring number and survival in the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. e0246258
Author(s):  
Ildikó Benedek ◽  
Vilmos Altbӓcker ◽  
Tamás Molnár
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Behavior ◽  
Hormonal Regulation ◽  
Oryctolagus Cuniculus ◽  
Stress Reactivity ◽  
Late Pregnancy ◽  
Nest Building ◽  
European Rabbit ◽  
Stress Axis ◽  
Offspring Number ◽  
Nest Quality

The physiological response to stressors has great importance, and its variance has an adaptive role in the survival of individuals. This study describes the effects of stress-axis activation on maternal behavior during the birthing process (parturition) in captive rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). In this species, chances of survival are strongly influenced by nest quality. Thus, maternal care is initiated with nest preparation in late pregnancy, which itself is subject to strict and complex hormonal regulation. Among these hormones, progesterone is one of the most dominant in the process of nest construction. We have demonstrated that its level is altered by the level of cortisol elevation in the animal in question, potentially having an influence on the preparation of the nest for the newborn kittens. We found that does that had a constant and un-elevated level of cortisol metabolite while delivering their litters performed better than those individuals that showed an increased corticoid response around parturition. The latter group exhibited a perceptible delay in the building of their nests, and in addition, further losses were also experienced in their already smaller litters. As the quality of the nest itself proved to be was in no way inferior to those of the other group, this higher kitten-mortality rate may be attributed to impaired maternal behavior. Individual variances in cortisol levels may also result in subtle changes in hormonal regulation, potentially affecting the expression of maternal behavior. We have concluded that the higher level of cortisol detected in more-sensitive does effectively disrupts the natural hormonal regulation involved in their nest-building processes.

Effects of small medial preoptic area lesions on maternal behavior: Retreiving and nest building in the rat

1980 ◽  
Vol 194 (2) ◽  
pp. 471-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol D. Jacobson ◽  
Joseph Terkel ◽  
Roger A. Gorski ◽  
Charles H. Sawyer
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Behavior ◽  
Preoptic Area ◽  
Medial Preoptic Area ◽  
Nest Building

Maternal Behavior in the Rat: an Investigation and Quantification of Nest Building

Behaviour ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 34 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor H. Denenberg ◽  
M.X. Zarrow ◽  
Rhoda E. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Behavior ◽  
Nest Building ◽  
Significant Finding ◽  
Nest Material ◽  
Warm Temperature ◽  
Ambient Temperatures ◽  
Pregnant Females ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Over Time

AbstractA technique has been developed to quantify nest building in rats. Small wooden dowels are provided as nest material. Rats shred the dowels, and the degree of nest building is determined by the amount shredded daily. Pregnant females show a marked increase in dowel shredding at or just prior to the time of parturition; shredding falls precipitously after parturition. Males and nonpregnant females show no such pattern over an equivalent period of time; their dowel shredding, in fact, decreases over time. A series of experiments were carried out involving hormone manipulations of pregnant and nonpregnant females. The only significant finding was that progesterone reduced the percentage of females which shredded dowels and also delayed the time of onset of this behavior. When nonpregnant females and males were exposed to cool ambient temperatures, dowel shredding increased markedly. On the other hand, exposing females to a warm temperature blocked dowel shredding behavior. Some similarities and differences between these findings and findings for the rabbit and mouse are discussed.

scholarly journals Equipping Farrowing Pens with Straw Improves Maternal Behavior and Physiology of Min-Pig Hybrid Sows

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 105
Author(s):  
Chao Wang ◽  
Qian Han ◽  
Runze Liu ◽  
Wenbo Ji ◽  
Yanju Bi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Behavior ◽  
Total Duration ◽  
Enriched Environment ◽  
Nest Building ◽  
Parental Behaviors ◽  
Bout Duration ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Building Behavior

This study investigated the effects of two factors, enriched environment (EE) and different crossbreeds, on the maternal behavior and physiology of Min-pig hybrid sows. The analysis was performed on a total of 72 multiparous sows, including Duroc × Min pig (DM), Landrace × Min pig (LM), and Landrace × Yorkshire (LY) sows, using a total of 24 sows per cross. The sows were housed in two different farrowing pens, one with straw (EE) and one without straw (barren environment (BE)). The results showed that nest-building behavior, including the frequency, total duration, and bout duration, was significantly higher in EE sows than in BE sows (p < 0.01). The frequency and duration of prepartum nest-building behavior were higher in DM and LM sows than in LY sows (p < 0.0001). During the first three days postpartum, EE sows spent a shorter time in ventral recumbency compared with BE sows (p < 0.05). The oxytocin (p < 0.05) and prolactin (p < 0.01) concentrations of EE sows were significantly higher than in BE sows; however, the concentration of cortisol followed the opposite (p < 0.01). The concentration of oxytocin was significantly higher in DM and LM sows than in LY sows (p < 0.01). In conclusion, both EE increased the expression of hormones related to parental behaviors and prenatal nesting and nursing behavior of sows. Furthermore, an EE can also reduce stress in sows. Min-pig hybrids may inherit highly advantageous characteristics of maternal behavior of Min-pig sows.

Maternal behavior in the rabbit: endocrine factors involved in hair loosening

1963 ◽  
Vol 204 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Farooq ◽  
V. H. Denenberg ◽  
S. Ross ◽  
P. B. Sawin ◽  
M. X. Zarrow
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Behavior ◽  
Significant Degree ◽  
Nest Building ◽  
Endocrine Factors

Evidence for the involvement of endocrine factors in the phenomenon of hair loosening is presented. A significant degree of hair loosening occurs on the day of nest building among pregnant and pseudopregnant rabbits. In the latter it occurs between the 19th and 21st day after the induction of pseudopregnancy; in the former it occurs toward the end of gestation. Progesterone administration toward the end of pregnancy significantly depressed the extent of hair loosening regardless of the occurrence of nest building. A significant degree of hair loosening could be induced in the castrated doe by treatment with a combination of estradiol, progesterone, and prolactin for 8 weeks. Hormone treatments of a shorter duration that induced nest building did not produce any hair loosening. Although nest building and hair loosening are correlated in time, the two phenomena can occur independently of each other and appear to be governed by separate mechanisms.

Maternal behavior in the rabbit: hair loosening during gestation

1960 ◽  
Vol 198 (5) ◽  
pp. 1099-1102 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. B. Sawin ◽  
V. H. Denenberg ◽  
Sherman Ross ◽  
Erwin Hafter ◽  
M. X. Zarrow
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Behavior ◽  
Nest Building ◽  
Nest Construction ◽  
Body Hair

A method is presented for determining the degree of hair loosening in the rabbit by weighing the amount of hair obtained through a standardized combing technique. The results indicate that significant hair loosening occurs during gestation in the rabbit. The time of hair loosening may vary from the 5th day prepartum to the day of parturition and in one instance the phenomenon failed to appear. The response of hair loosening is believed to be a component of the nest building-maternal behavior complex in the rabbit. The loosened body hair is used in nest construction.

Biology of Rabbits, Oryctolagus-Cuniculus, in Subtropical Queensland

1986 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 545 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Parer ◽  
PJ Fullagar
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Seasonal Variation ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Oryctolagus Cuniculus ◽  
Sand Ridge ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Dry Period ◽  
Aeolian Sand ◽  
Constant Rate ◽  
Capture Recapture

Capture-recapture estimates of the density of adult rabbits on an aeolian sand ridge near Mitchell in Queensland varied from four to seven per hectare over 18 months. The density of adult plus young rabbits peaked at 15 per hectare. Adult weights were high and the weights of adult males showed little seasonal variation. Young rabbits grew at a constant rate of 9.1 g day-1 until they reached a body weight of 1400 g. In the breeding season following a dry period there was a general synchrony of successive conceptions throughout the breeding season. For rabbits weighing more than 1400 g the sex ratio was biased towards males; for rabbits of less than 750 g there were more females than males. Immature rabbits dispersed more frequently than adults, and immature males dispersed more frequently than immature females.

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