Social facilitation of feeding and time budgets in stabled ponies.
Abstract: Eight pairs of pony mares were observed. Members of a pair were housed in adjacent stalls and fed hay ad libitum. The behavior of both ponies was recorded simultaneously in the morning (1000 to 1200 h) and afternoon (1400 to 1600 h) for a total of 117 h. The time budget was: 70.1 +/- 8.6% eating; 17.8 +/- 7.4% standing (including stand rest, stand alert and stand nonalert); 5.2 +/- 7.0% pushing hay; 2.9 +/- 1.2% walking; 1.9 +/- 2.9% drinking; 1.3 +/- 1.1% self-grooming; .2 +/- .3% defecating; .06 +/- .1% chewing nonfood items; .06 +/- .03% urination; .06 +/- .1% licking salt; .07 +/- .1% pawing hay; .6 +/- .7% lying and .07 +/- .08% stretching the neck over the stall wall dividing the ponies. While eating, the ponies lifted their heads 25.4 +/- 11.0 times/h. In less than one-half of the occasions when urination or defecation was observed, the ponies walked away from the spot where they had been eating to eliminate. During one-half of the observations, visual contact between the ponies was prevented by a solid partition between the stalls. The ponies spent significantly more time standing nonalert when the partition prevented visual contact (12 +/- 7%) than when visual contact could take place (6 +/- 3%, P less than .05). When fresh hay was supplied in the mornings, the ponies spent similar amounts of time eating whether visual contact was allowed or not, but in the afternoon significantly more time was spent feeding when visual contact was allowed (73 +/- 4%) than when it was not (60 +/- 7%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Publication Date: 1985-02-01 PubMed ID: 3988629DOI: 10.2527/jas1985.602369xGoogle Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
Summary
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The study observes the behaviour of pairs of pony mares under different conditions to understand if social interactions influence their feeding habits and time budgets.
Methodology
- The research was conducted on eight pairs of pony mares kept in adjacent stalls.
- The ponies were given hay to eat as they pleased, a practice known as ad libitum feeding.
- Observations were made during two periods in the day, morning (from 10:00 to 12:00) and afternoon (14:00 to 16:00), totalling 117 hours.
- At times, a solid partition was used between the stalls to block visual contact between the ponies.
Results
- The largest portion of the ponies’ time was spent eating, 70.1% on average.
- The next significant use of time was standing, a category that included stand rest, stand alert, and stand non-alert, consuming 17.8% of their time.
- Smaller proportions of time were spent on activities such as pushing hay, walking, drinking, self-grooming, defecating, chewing non-food items, urination, licking salt, pawing hay, lying, and stretching the neck over the stall wall dividing the ponies.
- While eating, the ponies lifted their heads approximately 25.4 times per hour.
- In less than half of observed occasions when ponies needed to urinate or defecate, they walked away from the area where they were eating to do so.
Effect of Blocking Visual Contact
- When visual contact between the ponies was blocked, they spent significantly more time in the nonalert standing position (12% versus 6%).
- The partition did not affect the amount of eating time in the morning. However, in the afternoon, ponies spent significantly more time eating when they could make visual contact (73%) compared to when they could not (60%).
This research suggests that social facilitation plays a role in dietary patterns and behavioral habits of stabled ponies.
Cite This Article
APA
Sweeting MP, Houpt CE, Houpt KA.
(1985).
Social facilitation of feeding and time budgets in stabled ponies.
J Anim Sci, 60(2), 369-374.
https://doi.org/10.2527/jas1985.602369x Publication
Researcher Affiliations
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Behavior, Animal
- Feeding Behavior
- Horses / physiology
- Male
- Social Facilitation
- Time Factors
Citations
This article has been cited 12 times.- Kelemen Z, Grimm H, Vogl C, Long M, Cavalleri JMV, Auer U, Jenner F. Equine Activity Time Budgets: The Effect of Housing and Management Conditions on Geriatric Horses and Horses with Chronic Orthopaedic Disease. Animals (Basel) 2021 Jun 23;11(7).
- Auer U, Kelemen Z, Engl V, Jenner F. Activity Time Budgets-A Potential Tool to Monitor Equine Welfare?. Animals (Basel) 2021 Mar 17;11(3).
- Wolford AN, Coverdale JA, Leatherwood JL, Pinchak WE, Anderson RC, Wickersham TA. Influence of housing type on the cecal environment of horses. Transl Anim Sci 2019 Mar;3(2):877-884.
- Baumgartner M, Boisson T, Erhard MH, Zeitler-Feicht MH. Common Feeding Practices Pose A Risk to the Welfare of Horses When Kept on Non-Edible Bedding. Animals (Basel) 2020 Mar 2;10(3).
- Connysson M, Rhodin M, Jansson A. Effects of Horse Housing System on Energy Balance during Post-Exercise Recovery. Animals (Basel) 2019 Nov 14;9(11).
- McGetrick J, Ausserwöger S, Leidinger I, Attar C, Range F. A Shared Food Source Is Not Necessary to Elicit Inequity Aversion in Dogs. Front Psychol 2019;10:413.
- Murase H, Matsui A, Endo Y, Sato F, Hada T. Changes of lying behavior in Thoroughbred foals influenced by age, pasturing time, and weather conditions. J Equine Sci 2018 Sep;29(3):61-66.
- Seelke AM, Rhine MA, Khun K, Shweyk AN, Scott AM, Bond JM, Graham JL, Havel PJ, Wolden-Hanson T, Bales KL, Blevins JE. Intranasal oxytocin reduces weight gain in diet-induced obese prairie voles. Physiol Behav 2018 Nov 1;196:67-77.
- Borer KT. Counterregulation of insulin by leptin as key component of autonomic regulation of body weight. World J Diabetes 2014 Oct 15;5(5):606-29.
- Bazazi S, Ioannou CC, Simpson SJ, Sword GA, Torney CJ, Lorch PD, Couzin ID. The social context of cannibalism in migratory bands of the Mormon cricket. PLoS One 2010 Dec 14;5(12):e15118.
- Collins LM, Sumpter DJ. The feeding dynamics of broiler chickens. J R Soc Interface 2007 Feb 22;4(12):65-72.
- Gartland B, Strunk W, Schulte B, DeGraves F, Koostra J. Time budgets differ in horses during continuous and space-restricted rotational grazing. Vet Anim Sci 2024 Sep;25:100371.
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