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1. Behavior Depends on Consequences.
Animals do what they do based on the consequences of their actions. Positive consequences tend to increase the frequency of an action, while negative consequences decrease it. It's a simple idea, and one we use every day. We use it to keep cows in pastures with a thin line of electric fence, knowing they won't risk the consequence of a shock. We use it to train our pets by offering them treats whenever they do as we ask. But we could use it for so much more. For example, we can use this simple idea to change what and where your animals eat so they:
- do the dirty work of ridding your farm or ranch of weeds,are prepared for and gain weight more quickly in feedlot,stay out of streams and ponds, improve habitat for wildife, and
- make better use of available forage.
Since animals learn what to eat and where to go we can change their behaviors and turn them into land management tools! |
2. Early Experience Matters Most.
Animals have to learn what to eat. An animal's mother is the single most important factor in determining what foods it eats and where it lives. Once trained, animals will effortlessly pass new behaviors on to their offspring. Animals also learn from their peers.
Sometimes animals don't eat things because they've never seen them before and because they have plenty of familiar choices. |
3. I've Never Tried It, But I Don't Like It!
Animals are wary of the unfamiliar, whether it is a new food, a new place or a new creature. Thus they may not try unfamiliar foods or be comfortable in unfamiliar places even if the livestock manager knows them to be safe. Animals do what they've always done until they have to change in order to survive. Change increases stress and can cause illness and decreased performance. Therefore when we ask an animal to try a new food or live in a new place we need to manage stressors.
ALL plants contain toxins - even some that we eat every day like potatoes and tomatoes.
Toxins are only TOXIC in high doses. Thus toxins rarely kill or harm us or animals because we experience the feedback they provide so we reduce the amount we eat.
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4. Palatability is More Than A Matter of Taste.
Research demonstrates that creatures' experience of nutrients and toxins in foods is sent from the stomach to the brain where those nerves connect with the nerves that catalog taste. This means that whether a food tastes good is based in part on the nutrients and toxins it contains. The rest of how a food tastes is based on how much the animal has already had of those particular nutrients and toxins and what else it needs to meet its individual needs. Sound complicated? Fortunately for all of us this occurs automatically.
Animals learn to eat foods that are nutritious and to avoid foods that are either low in nutrients or high in toxins based on these internal feedback mechanisms. Nutrients and toxins in plants change over the course of a growing season, as does the amount of those plants an animal eats. The more toxins a plant contains, the more nutrients an animal will require to be able to successfully handle the toxins. This doesn't mean animals can eat ALL plants. Some plants contain toxins in such high levels that they are considered "toxic" and can cause death.
5. Variety is the Spice of Life.
Livestock meet their needs by eating mixed diets. Providing animals with a variety of foods, whether in confinement or on pastures, may increase intake, reduce stress, and increase efficiency. Animals with access to a variety of foods may also increase their intake of formerly unpalatable forages because nutrients and toxins may have offsetting or complementary properties. Every animal is different and has its own preferences and nutritional needs. Offering variety allows each animal to meet its own needs.
"Optimal Foraging Theory" assumes that an animal is constantly eating only the most nutritious foods. However, trials with animals in pens show us that animals will mix their foods to meet their individual needs and will include foods high and low in nutrients depending on their previous experiences.
"Pressure" is a part of every learning opportunity. If animals don't have a little pressure, they are not likely to try new things. Fences and riders can provide pressure to eat new things or move to new places.
Positive reinforcement, from nutrients in unfamiliar foods, or from good forage or supplements in new locations can ensure that an animal continues the preferred behaviors.
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6. Even old dogs can learn new tricks.
We can change an animal's behavior by using all of the above and understanding the effects of reinforcement (want to) and punishment (have to) and the difference between skin and gut defenses. Changing an animal's diet or its behavior requires understanding three things:
- Positive reinforcement is stronger and longer lasting than negative,
- What is positive or negative to an animal, and
- The difference between skin defenses and gut defenses.
7. Relationships make all the difference.
We live in a world of invisible interconnectedness. Successfully making changes requires first that we think about the variety of different elements in our system and their possible influences on each other, and second that when something does not work as we anticipated, we reexamine our assumptions.
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