Unit 6: Animal Behavior & Effective
Management
Chapters 22 & 24
Objectives
 Knowledge of the affects of various animal behavior on
production and performance
 Appreciation of inherited vs. learned behaviors
 Understanding of effective management, and its relationship to
profit
 Comprehension of the decision-making process, and
technology/tools available to assist managers in the process
Fields of Animal Behavior
 Psychology
 Ethology-Instinctive & Learned Behaviors
 Instinct
 Present @ birth (Ex. Nursing in mammals)
 Habituation
 Lack of response to a repeated stimulus
 Called Conditioning
 Classical-association between an unconditioned stimulus & a neutral
stimulus (Pavlov’s Dogs)
 Operant-learning to respond to a stimulus as a result of reinforcement
Fields of Animal Behavior
 Trial & Error
 Trying different responses until the correct one is performed, tied to a reward
 Reasoning
 Correct response to a stimulus the first time
 Intelligence
 Short term memory
 Long term memory
 Imprinting
 Bonding process
 Mostly for recognition purposes
Systems of Animal Behavior
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Nine identified systems
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Sexual
Caregiving
Care soliciting
Agonistic
Ingestive
Eliminative
Shelter seeking
Investigative
Allelomimetic
Systems of Animal Behavior
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Sexual Behavior
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Heat or estrus
Pheromones
 Used to attract the opposite sex
 Flehman-curling of upper lip
Cow & Bull
Sow & Boar
 Sow seeks out the boar
Mare & Stallion
Figure 22.1
A cow or heifer in estrus will allow either bulls or females to mount.
Systems of Animal Behavior
 Caregiving Behavior
 Most is maternally oriented
 Stimulation to suckling
 Protection
 Care Soliciting Behavior
 Young crying for help when distressed, disturbed, or hungry
 Vocal sounds
Figure 22.2 A calf separated from its dam has a distinct bawl, which communicates distress of dissatisfaction. Courtesy of the American
Hereford Association.
Systems of Animal Behavior
 Agonistic Behavior
 Fight or flight
 Aggressive or passive
 Interaction w/ other animals
 Males always fight other strange males
 Establishing social dominance
o Offense
o Defense
o Escape
o Passivity
 Females usually are not as aggressive
Systems of Animal Behavior
 Social interaction plays a huge role in animal production
 Age has an effect
 Interaction w/ humans
 Disposition is formed through experience and inheritance
 Behavior during Handling & Restraint
 Animals remember positive & negative experiences
 All depends upon the handlers and the facilities
 Knowing and understanding behavior will reduce stress on the producer
and the animal, and prevent injury
 Blood odor appears to be detectible
Systems of Animal Behavior
 Vision can be manipulated
Curves chute systems
 Solid walls
 Flight Zone
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Figure 22.5 Shadows that fall across a chute can disrupt the flow of animals through the facilities. The lead animal often balks and refuses
to cross the shadows. Courtesy of Temple Grandin.
Let’s take a look at a few examples:
source: http://www.grandin.com/design/design.html
Systems of Animal Behavior
 Ingestive Behavior
 Eating & drinking
 Grazing behavior
 Rumination
 Relation to water access
 How do we manage the range
 Climate can have an impact on grazing
 Eliminative Behavior
 Feces and Urine
 Cattle, sheep, goats are indiscriminate
 Hogs will defecate in a particular area
 Horses will defecate on the scent of another horse
Systems of Animal Behavior
 Cattle defecate 12-18 times daily
 Horses defecate 5-12
 Urinate ~7-11x/d
 Elimination is effected by stress

Responsible for Shrink Loss in cattle transport
 Shelter-Seeking Behavior
 Shade for rest & rumination
 Wet areas for cooling
 Crowding during cold conditions
Systems of Animal Behavior
 Investigative Behavior
 Curiosity
 Common in pigs, horses, dairy goats, and somewhat in cattle
 Allelomimetic Behavior
 Doing the same thing at the same time
 Herding behavior
Figure 22.3
One-hour feeding pattern for two cows of different social rankings. Adapted from Schake and Riggs, 1972.
Figure 22.7
Cattle expressing investigative behavior as the result of interest in a novel item in the pen. Courtesy of Temple Grandin.
Systems of Animal Behavior
 Other Behaviors
 Communication
 Transfer of information through any of the senses
 Maladaptive or Abnormal Behavior
 Animals that cannot adopt to a new environment, or exhibit inappropriate
behavior
o Ex. Tail chewing and cannibalism in swine
 Buller-steer syndrome
o Steer castrated before puberty
o Certain steers are more attractive for mounting
o As one mounts, the others do the same
o Can cause physical injury, reduced weight gain, additional
labor/equipment
o Can be as much as 1-3% of the feedlot steer herd
Making Effective Management
Decisions
 Fixed resources
 Land
 Labor
 Capital
 Management
 Renewable resources
 Animals
 Plants
Managing for Lower Costs & Higher
Returns
 Profitability Formula
 Profit/loss=(production X price) – cost
 Production and cost include many different things
 Managers should focus on the optimum level of output vs. input
 Primary Components of Long-term profitability
 Costs
 Careful monitoring of input costs
 Ex.?
Managing for Lower Costs & Higher
Returns
 Production
 Pounds or numbers sold
 Price
 Amount received/lb., or /h, or /doz.
 Influenced by supply/demand
 Resource Improvement
 Land used for forage and cropping
 Can easily be depleted if not cared for properly
 So, how do producers focus on the business side of their
operation? What can they influence?
The Manager
 Plan
 Act
 Evaluate
 Characteristics of an Effective Manager
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Profit-oriented
Short-term and long-term objective planning
Keep up on current knowledge/technology
Effective time management
Attentive to physical, emotional, financial needs of the employees
Figure 24.1
Major component parts of the planning process.
The Manager
 Use of incentive programs for motivation
 Honest business dealings
 Effective communication and use of employee input
 Prioritize duties
 Self-starter
 Prioritize resource use
 Risk management
 Be a good example
Figure 24.2
Organizational structure of a large commercial feeding operation.
Financial Management
 Must have good records for costs, returns, and profitability
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Cash transactions
Balance Sheet (net worth=assets-liabilities)
Income Statement
Cash-flow Statement
Enterprise Budget
Partial Budget
Income Tax Forms
Financial Management
 Credit and money management is crucial to making effect
management decisions, during times of inflation & high interest
rates
 Credit must be managed carefully, and used as a tool
 Income Tax Considerations
 Paying little or no income tax should not be a goal
 Well-managed operations pay income taxes if profitability is the goal
 not poor management to pay income tax, but to pay more than is owed
Financial Management
 Estate & Gift-Tax Planning
 Adequate knowledge & planning can greatly help managers pass on
farms to heirs
 Producers can make an annual gift of $10,000 to
children/grandchildren without paying federal gift tax
 1997 unified credit exemption up to $1m by 2006
 1998-family farms can use a family business exemption of an
additional $300,000
 Consult a tax professional
People
 Most widely overlooked part of management, but is the most
critical
 Communication is the key
 Effective people managers should be able to:
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Determine optimum labor needs
Identify, hire, and retain employees
Motivate and reward employees both financially and nonfinancially
Keep the focus of the mission and goals
Build and enhance teams and partnerships
People
 If the operation is family-owned and operated
Use sound business practices
Evaluate other family operations
Include all family members in written planning of responsibilities
Weekly meetings for planning, evaluating, problem solving
Family relationships are most important, and can be compatible w/
profitability
 Patience and tolerance
 Encourage open communication
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Management Systems
 Systematic organization of information in order to make valid
management decisions
 Critical thinking and assessment are key
 Often, sophisticated evaluation tools are not necessary, however,
they are useful for large volumes of information
 Animal production has typically been maximized without
consideration of cost-benefit relationships
Management Systems
 Lets talk about some management examples, good or bad