Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T01:58:39.810Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Conditioned flavour aversions in sheep: the relationship between the dose rate of a secondary plant compound and the acquisition and persistence of aversions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

I. Kyriazakis ,
D. H. Anderson  and
A. J. Duncan
I. Kyriazakis*
Affiliation:
Genetics and Behavioural Sciences Department, Scottish Agricultural College, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
D. H. Anderson
Affiliation:
Genetics and Behavioural Sciences Department, Scottish Agricultural College, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
A. J. Duncan
Affiliation:
Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, UK
*
*Corresponding author:Dr I Kyriazakis, fax +44 (0)131 535 3121, email [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Within the overall objective of whether ruminants are able to form conditioned aversions (CFA) toward a food flavour associated with the administration of an aversive stimulus which occurs naturally in food plants (oxalic acid, OA), two specific objectives were tested: (1) whether the rate and degree of formation of CFA are dependent on the dose rate of OA administered and (2) whether the persistence of formed CFA depends on the previous dose rate of OA. Sheep were conditioned to associate the specific flavour of one of two novel foods with either the oral administration of OA or equivalent placebos. Four dose rates of OA were tested (0.06, 0.12, 0.18 and 0.24 g/kg sheep live weight per d), with twelve sheep per dose. Each conditioning period lasted for 8 d and was repeated four times. At the end of each conditioning period the preference for the two flavours was measured in short-term, 20min preference tests. The persistence of the CFA was measured at 0, 7, 21 and 49 d after the completion of the conditioning phase with long-term, 3 h preference tests. The results of the experiment indicated that: (1) the rate and degree of formation of CFA were dependent on the rate of administration of OA; (2) sheep required repeated exposures to the lower dose rates of OA in order to develop CFA and these CFA did not persist in the absence of continual reinforcement; (3) CFA to the higher dose rates of OA were developed after as little as one exposure and persisted over a period of at least 7 weeks. These findings are consistent with the expectation that ruminants should be able to select a diet which minimizes the risk of consumption of potentially harmful foods, whilst at the same time maintaining a degree of flexibility in their feeding behaviour.

Keywords

Conditioned flavour aversionsDiet selectionOxalic acidSheep
Type
Animal Nutrition
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 79 , Issue 1 , January 1998 , pp. 55 - 62
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1998

References

Allison, MJ, Littledike, ET & James, LF (1977) Changes in ruminal oxalate degradation rates associated with adaptation to oxalate ingestion. Journal of Animal Science 45, 1173–1179.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Belovsky, GE & Schmitz, OJ (1994) Plant defenses and optimal foraging by mammalian herbivores. Journal of Mammalogy 75, 818–832.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bhardwaj, D & Prakash, I (1979) Intensity of poison aversion and bait shyness in Rattus rattus due to intermittent and successive exposure to RH-787. Zeitschrift angewandter Zoologie 66, 427–436.Google Scholar
Cooper, SDB, Kyriazakis, I & Nolan, JV (1995) Diet selection in sheep: the role of the rumen environment on the selection of a diet from two feeds that differ in their energy density. British Journal of Nutrition 74, 39–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
du, Toit JT, Provenza, FD & Nartis, AS (1991) Conditioned food aversions: how sick must a ruminant get before it detects toxicity in foods. Applied Animal Behavioural Science 30, 35–46.Google Scholar
Duncan, AJ, Frutos, P & Young, SA (1998) Rates of oxalic acid degradation in the rumen of sheep and goats in response to different levels of oxalic acid administration. Journal of Chemical Ecology (In the Press).Google Scholar
Feeny, P (1976) Plant apparency and chemical defense. Recent Advances in Phytochemistry 10, 1–40.Google Scholar
Frutos, P, Duncan, AJ, Kyriazakis, I & Gordon, IJ (1998) Learned aversion towards oxalic acid-containing foods by goats: does rumen adaptation to oxalic acid influence diet choice? Journal of Chemical Ecology (In the Press).Google Scholar
Horgan, GW & Sword, AM (1995) Statistical Methods for Repeated Measures Data. Edinburgh: Biomathematics & Statistics Scotland, University of Edinburgh.Google Scholar
James, LF & Butcher, JE (1972) Halogeton poisoning of sheep: effect of high level of oxalate intake. Journal of Animal Science 35, 1233–1240.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendrick, KM (1992) Cognition. In Farm Animals and the Environment, pp. 209–231 [Phillips, C and Piggins, D, editors]. Oxford: CAB INTERNATIONAL.Google Scholar
Kronberg, SL, Muntifering, RB, Ayers, EL & Marlow, CB (1993) Cattle avoidance of leafy spurge: a case of conditioned aversion. Journal of Range Management 46, 364–366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kyriazakis, I (1997) The nutritional choices of farm animals: to eat or what to eat? In: Animal Choices. Occasional Publication of the British Society of Animal Science no. 20, pp. 55–65 [Forbes, MJ and Varley, MA, editors]. Edinburgh: BSAS.Google Scholar
Kyriazakis, I & Oldham, JD (1993) Diet selection in sheep: the ability of growing lambs to select a diet that meets their crude protein requirements. British Journal of Nutrition 69, 617–629.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kyriazakis, I, Oldham, JD, Coop, RL & Jackson, F (1994) The effect of subclinical intestinal nematode infection on the diet selection of growing sheep. British Journal of Nutrition 72, 665–677.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kyriazakis, I, Papachristou, TG, Duncan, AJ & Gordon, IJ (1997) Mild conditioned food aversions developed by sheep towards flavours associated with plant secondary compounds. Journal of Chemical Ecology 23, 727–746.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Launchbaugh, KL & Provenza, FD (1994) The effect of flavour concentration and toxin dose on the formation and generalisation of flavour aversions in lambs. Journal of Animal Science 72, 10–13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Libert, B & Franceschi, R (1987) Oxalate in crop plants. Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry 35, 926–938.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Connor, CE & Matthews, LR (1995) Cyanide induced aversions in the possum (Trichosurus vulpecula): effect of route of administration, dose and formulation. Physiology and Behavior 58, 265–271.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pfister, JA, Provenza, FD, Manners, GD, Gardner, DR & Ralphs, MH (1997) Tall larkspur ingestion: can cattle regulate intake below toxic levels? Journal of Chemical Ecology 23, 759–777.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Provenza, FD (1995) Postingestive feedback as an elementary determinant of food preference and intake in ruminants. Journal of Range Management 48, 2–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Provenza, FD (1996) Acquired aversions as the basis for varied diets of ruminants foraging on rangelands. Journal of Animal Science 74, 2010–2020.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Provenza, FD, Pfister, JA & Cheney, CD (1992) Mechanisms of learning in diet selection with reference to phytotoxicosis in herbivores. Journal of Range Management 45, 36–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanz, P & Reig, R (1992) Clinical and pathological findings in fatal plant oxalosis. A review. American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 13, 342–345.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thorhallsdottir, AG, Provenza, FD & Balph, DF (1987) Food aversion learning in lambs with or without a mother: discrimination, novelty and persistence. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 18, 327–340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vonburg, R (1994) Oxalic-acid and sodium oxalate. Journal of Applied Toxicology 14, 233–237.Google Scholar
Voth, LM (1981) Determination of calcium and magnesium in blood serum by automated flame microsampling. Varian Atomic Absorption 44–15, 1–4.Google Scholar
Westoby, M (1974) An analysis of diet selection by large generalist herbivores. American Naturalist 108, 290–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar