it is for students and educators in the field of veterinary profession to understand the sense organs ad behaviour of dairy bovines

1. BY
DR. V.P.VADODARIA, Ph.D.
Rtd. Dean and Principal
Veterinary College
Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural
University
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2. Primitive societies first domesticated animals as a
convenient means of meeting immediate needs for
food clothing and transport.
Successful operation of a modern farm demands
sound planning and astute decision making
throughout all stages of the production sequence.
Many people in the livestock industry posses little
understanding of how the system works or appreciate
how animals interact with environments. Thus, they
compound problems rather than contribute to
solutions
2

3. • Livestock cannot be separated from their
environment and should never be considered in
isolation from that environment.
• Periodic environmental assessments are necessary
• ANIMAL ENVIRONMENTS
• Higher animals posses complex organ systems that
respond to appropriate stimuli and work in concert to
perform their essential body functions.
• Signals received from the surroundings by the
sensory organs may produce a local reflex action or
are processed in the central nervous system.
• Mild signals produce no responses but stronger
stimuli initiate physiological or behavioral changes.3

4. • By understanding how your senses gather
information, we gain a better and more
thorough understanding of their behavior.
• Successful operation of a modern farm demands
sound planning and astute decision making
throughout all stages of the production
sequence
• The behavior of an organism is the culmination
of everything that has or is happening in that
organism relative to biochemistry, development,
genetics, physiology, etc
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5. a As far back as the 1760's, the
famous philosopher Immanuel
Kant proposed that our knowledge
of the outside world depends on
our modes of perception.
In order to define what is
"extrasensory" we need to define
what is "sensory".
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6. SENSE ORGANS
A structure in animals that is specialized
for receiving external or internal
stimuli and transmitting them in the form of
nervous impulses to the brain
 In animals, an organ or part that is
sensitive to a stimulus, as of sound, touch, or
light.
Examples of sense organs include the
eye,ear, and nose, as well as the taste
buds on the tongue.
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7.  They sense changes in the environment around
them and in their bodies so that they can respond
appropriately.
 They enable animals to avoid hostile environments,
sense the presence of predators and find food.
 Animals can sense a wide range of stimuli that
includes, touch, pressure, pain, temperature,
chemicals, light, sound, movement and position of
the body.
 Some animals can sense electric and magnetic
fields. All sense organs respond to stimuli by
producing nerve impulses that travel to the brain
via a sensory nerve.
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8. The senses are often divided into two groups:
1. The general senses of touch,
pressure, pain and temperature that are
distributed fairly evenly through the skin.
Some are found in muscles and within
joints.
2. The special senses which include the
senses of smell, taste, sight, hearing and
balance. The special sense organs may
be quite complex in structure.
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Sweetness is usually associated with
substances that have nutritive value
Bitter is usually associated with substances that
are potentially harmful
Salty taste indicates the presence of sodium
 Five basic taste qualities:
• Salty
• Sour
• Sweet
• Bitter
• Umami - described as meaty, brothy or savory

10. Ageusia: Absence of sense of taste
Dysgeusia: Disturbed sense of taste
Hypogeusia: Diminshed sense of
taste
Hypergeusia: increased sense of
taste
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11. ANIMAL VISION
Predator detection
Detection of prey/food
Orientation
Communication
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Cattle have almost 360° panoramic
vision making them sensitive to
shadows and abrupt movements.
This helps them to see predators
coming from any direction.
Cattle also have blind spots directly
in front and behind and may charge
or kick, if approached from the front
or rear.

13. Many animals are macrosmatic (Good
olfactory sense)
Humans are microsmatic (poor olfactory
sense)
Cattle have an excellent sense of smell. They
can detect odours up to five miles away. They
can also hear both low and high frequency
sounds beyond human capability.
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17. The Vomeronasal System
 A second olfactory system is present in most
vertebrates. It is separate from the main olfactory
system anatomically and functionally.
 The vomeronasal system is specialized for detecting
high molecular weight, relatively nonvolatile
chemicals. Its presence is often accompanied by
morphological or behavioral specializations for
moving such odorants to the vomeronasal
epithelium.
 Vomeronasal receptors use a different signal
transduction pathway than main olfactory receptors
 About 100 different receptor types in two gene
families; these families are different from the four in
which main olfactory receptors are coded
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18. Vomeronasal receptors use a different
signal transduction pathway than main
olfactory receptors
About 100 different receptor types.
• Courtship, sexual behavior,
aggression, maternal behavior, kin
recognition, pair bonding, territoriality,
fear and predator avoidance all involve
chemical signaling and are controlled
by the reception of chemical signals in
most mammals
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19. ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR
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20. In behavioral ecology, a signal is a
behavior that causes a change in
another animal’s behavior.
Communication is the transmission
and reception of signals.
Animals communicate using visual,
chemical, tactile, and auditory signals.
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21. Some scientific sub-disciplines
associated with animal behavior:
• behavioral biology
• ethology
• neuroethology
• comparative psychology
• experimental psychology
• behavioral ecology
• behavioral physiology
• animal communication
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22. Dugatkin’s definition of animal behavior
Behavior is the internally coordinated
responses (actions or inactions) of whole
living organisms (individuals or groups)
to internal and/or external stimuli.
Behavior can be defined as an
expressed course of action produced in
organisms in response to stimulus from
a given situation.
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23. Ethology is the scientific study of animal
behavior, particularly in natural
environments.
Behaviour changes in response to the
external and internal environments
capable of eliciting or causing some sort
of reaction or response in a living
organism. (gravity temperature,
pressure, radiation etc).
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24. It could simply be considered as
what the animal does.
• Animal behavior is based on
physiological systems and
processes .
A behavior is the nervous system’s
response to a stimulus and is carried
out by the muscular or the hormonal
system.
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25. Why to study Animal Behavior?
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•Understanding animal behavior
helps a producer analyze the
results of animal nutrition,
physiology, breeding, and
management.
•Behavior helps an animal to Obtain
food Find a partner for sexual
reproduction Maintain homeostasis.

26. Why to study Animal Behavior?
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.Comprehending behavior
increases the efficiency of labor,
limits handling problems, decreases
accidents to humans and other
animals, and increases the well-
being and productivity of livestock.
Productivity is dependent on a
genetic x environment x
management interaction.

27.  Instinct – (reflexes and responses)
 what the animal has at birth. Ex. Nursing, searching for
food.
 Habituation – learning to respond without thinking,
response to certain stimulus is established as a result of
habituation.
 Conditioning – learning to respond in a particular way to
a stimulus as a result of reinforcement when the proper
response is made.
 Reinforcement – a reward for making the proper
response.
 Reasoning – the ability to respond correctly to a
stimulus the first time that a new situation is presented.
 Intelligence – the ability to learn to adjust successfully to
certain situations. Both short-term and long-term
memory are part of intelligence.
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28. Sexual
Maternal
Communicative
Social
Feeding
Eliminative
Shelter-Seeking
Investigative
Allelomimetic
Maladaptive
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29. Useful in implementing breeding programs
o Cows that are in heat, allow themselves to be
mounted by others.
Standing heat/estrus helps to identify cows that are ready
for breeding.
o Bulls, rams and stallions smell the vagina and urine
to detect pheromones
o Flehmen – Male animal lifts head and curls its upper
lip .
Rams chase ewes that are coming into heat
o Sows seek out boars for mating
o Mares in heat squat and urinate when stallion
approaches and vulva winks
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30. Mating behavior includes seeking or
attracting mates, choosing among
potential mates, and competing for
mates.
Mating behavior results from a type of
natural selection called sexual
selection.
The mating relationship between
males and females varies greatly from
species to species. 30

31.  Cows that are in heat exhibit following behavioral
symptoms :
 Allow themselves to be mounted by other cattle,
 trying to mount other cows,
 acting nervously,
 seeking out the bull
 allowing chin-resting on her rump, and raising
the tail.
 Isolated cows in estrus may be restless, walk the
fence, and bawl.
 Producers use standing heat to determine
appropriate time for artificial insemination
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32. The bull is attracted to a particular cow in a
herd by viewing cow-to-cow mounting.
Bulls are also attracted to cows by olfactory
cues.
Pheromones in vaginal secretions and in
urine are detected by the males through
smell.
Castration changes behavior.
Non-castrated, or intact, males are more
aggressive in behavior.
Castrated males are more docile.
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33. Females taking care of newborn and young
animals
Maternal behavior begins at parturition (time of
birth) and continues to weaning.
Cows giving birth
•Will seek seclusion, usually in a depression or
trees
•Calf stands and starts to nurse after ~ 1 hour
•Cow eats the placenta (so as to not alert
predators)
•Cow and calf rejoin herd after 2-4 days
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34. The mothers lick their young to clean them
off (cattle, sheep, goats, and horses).
This licking stimulates blood circulation
and encourages the young to stand and
nurse.
o Mothers fight off intruders
• Cows are devotional mothers and are
known to walk for miles to find their
calves
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35. Cow is very possessive throughout nursing
period
•Will come to rescue calf very quickly
Cows identify young primarily by smell
•Sight and sound also contribute to
identification
SELECTIVE GRAZING
Cattle like to select the best pasture
available to them which is most palatable
and most nutritious
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36. 
AGRESIVE BEHAVIOUR
 Become aggressive in protecting their young after
birth
 Pawing the ground with forefeet and snorting while
holding its head up are signs of aggressive behaviour.
 Bulls bellow deeply to communicate aggressive
behavior
 An aggressive bull will knock down a person and
continue to knock him down or toss him
 Cows that are handled frequently, such as dairy
cows, are usually docile.
 The cows that aren’t handled regularly, may
become aggressive.
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37. When some type of information is exchanged
between individual animals
Examples of Communicative Behavior
o Distress Calls – Lambs bleat, calves bawl,
pigs squeal and chicks chirp. Distress calls
are used by young ---- when separated from
their mothers and by adults---- when under
stress
o Dams recognize offspring by smell
o Farm animals respond to calls or whistles
O Smell helps a mother identify her offspring..
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38. Includes “fight or flight” and aggressive and
passive behaviors between animals
Includes interactions with other animals
Males of all farm animals fight when they meet
other unfamiliar males of the same species
o Cows, sows and mares develop a pecking
order, but fight less intensely than males
o Cows withdraw from the herd to a secluded
spot just before calving
o Almost all animals withdraw from the herd if
they are sick
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39. Exhibited by animals when eating and drinking
Examples of Feeding Behavior
Foraging = food-obtaining behavior. Foraging includes
recognizing, searching for, capturing, and eating food items
o Cattle graze 4-9hrs/day, ruminate 4-9hrs/day, regurgitate
300-400 boluses of feed per day
o Cattle usually don’t go more than 3 miles away from water.
Animals usually eat less during extremely hot or cold
temperatures.
Sheep and goats graze 9-11hrs/day, ruminate 7-10hrs/day,
regurgitate 400-600 boluses of feed per day
o Sheep may travel as much as 8 miles a day
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40. Elimination of feces and urine
 Animals defecate & urinate more when
stressed or excited
O Eliminate feces & urine indiscriminately (Cattle, sheep,
horses, goats and chickens ). Defecate while standing
or walking (Cattle, sheep, goats and swine) .Urinate
while standing, but not walking
o Cattle defecate 12-18 times/day, urinate 7-11 times/day
O Animals loose 3% of their live weight when
transported
 Hogs eliminate feces in definite areas of a pasture or
pen
 Horses defecate 5-12 times/day, urinate 7-11 times/day
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41. o Animals crowd together in snow and cold
winds.
Cattle like to sleep close to their families,
and sleeping arrangements are
determined by individuals’ rank in the
social hierarchy.
o Animals seek shelter of trees when it rains
o Cattle and sheep seek shady area for rest
and rumination if weather is hot.
o In extreme situations, animals pile up to
the extent that some get smothered
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42. o Cattle are extremely
curious and inquisitive
animals which will
investigate everything.
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43. Animals of a species tend to do the same thing at
the same time
 useful in driving groups of animals from one
place to another
o Cattle and sheep tend to graze at the same
time and rest and ruminate at the same time
 o Range cattle gather at the watering place
about the same time each day because one
follows the .
 Cattle grazing on large range areas tend to
gather together at the watering place at the
same time of day.
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44. Animals that cannot adapt to their
environment, exhibit inappropriate or
unusual behavior
Buller-steer syndrome – steers that have
been castrated before puberty
demonstrate masculine behaviorAbnormal
behavior can be used to identify clues to
illness, stress, inadequate nutrition, and
other problems.
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45. o Stress and sickness are two of the main
causes of inappropriate or unusual behavior.
method
Chickens and swine in extensive
management (confinement) systems
resort to cannibalism, removal of tails is
a prevention
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46. SUMMARY
• Behavior helps an animal to Obtain food
Find a partner for sexual reproduction
Maintain homeostasis.
• Understanding animal behavior helps a
producer analyze the results of animal
nutrition, physiology, breeding, and
management.
Knowledge of animal behaviour and
senses will help producers to be more
efficient in managing livestock enterprises
which will be safer and more productive. 46

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