G. Le Pape

Stereotypies in pregnant sows: indications of influence of the housing system on the patterns expressed by the animals

Abstract Patterns of stereotypy were observed in pregnant sows maintained in different housing systems in commercial farms. Comparisons were made among females of the same genotype: stalls vs. tethers for Large White (respectively 124 and 68 sows) and stalls vs. group-housed for Large White/Landrace crosses (respectively 81 and 71 sows) for two farms in each case. The patterns of stereotypy were observed for 1 h after food distribution. The proportion of sows developing stereotypies did not differ between stall-housed and tethered females (89.5 vs. 94.1%), but was lower in group-housed compared with stall-housed sows (66.2 vs. 92.6%). The stereotypies presented by tethered sows were predominantly licking and rubbing, whereas in stalls or group-housed, they were most frequently biting and vacuum oral activities. The function of stereotypies, the effect of the environment and the origin of the heterogeneity of the patterns displayed are discussed

Early predictors of dominance ability in heifers (bos taurus, l.) of the hérens breed

Many studies have looked for predictors of dominance in various species. However, to our knowledge only short term predictors have been investigated. Cows of the Herens breed have been selected for fighting tendency and dominance ability; therefore these animals constitute an original and pertinent model to study the possibility of predicting dominance ability at an early age. Physical characteristics, several aspects of social behaviour, reactivity to fear eliciting situations, docility towards humans were assessed in 28 heifers at 6 and 18 months of age. These heifers were reared from birth in 5 permanent groups which never met. Dominance of the 28 subjects was estimated at 30 mo. by observing each heifer in a succession of seven groups that each contained 4 unacquainted animals. The 28 heifers were then allocated to 2 classes (dominant or subordinate) by means of a cluster analysis. Early indicators (combinations of variables) of adult dominance ability were assessed among the variables measured at 6 and 18 months, by a succession of linear discriminant analyses. The discriminant function which best predicts the dominance class either at 6 or 18 mo. includes mainly variables from the fear eliciting tests. This function allows accurate prediction of the dominant or subordinate position of heifers in 94.7 and 92.2% of the cases respectively. The less fearful a heifer was at either 6 or 18 months, the more dominant she tended to be at 30 months of age. These results are in accordance with the previously reported importance of emotional reactivity in dominance relationships in cattle.

Mise en evidence d'effects grand-maternels sur les conduites maternelles de la souris

Continuous recording of locomotor activity and time spent in the nest were performed on mice during the five first days postpartum. We compared mice of the C57BL/6 inbred strain to mice of the two reciprocal F2s derived from the C57BL/6 and BALB/c parental strains. All animals reared foster pups of the C57BL/6 strain. The results did not show any difference between the three groups for the total amount of time spent in the nest ; this parameter decreases with days. No difference appeared between the C57BL/6 group and the F2 B6CxCB6 group (having a grandmother of the C57BL/6 strain), whereas each of these groups differed significantly from F2 CB6xB6C group (having a grandmother of the BALB/c strain) for the following indices : locomotor activity, mean duration of a stay in the nest, mean duration of an absence from the nest and percentage of nocturnal activity. These results are discussed in terms of grandmaternal effects as far as the variation in the strain of the grandmother is the only factor which can account for these differences in behavior.

Correspondances entre la variabilite des conduites maternelles et la diversification des comportements de la progeniture chez la souris.

Maternal behaviour may be used as a tool for hereditary transmission of behavioural characters in mammals. The maternal behaviour of mice from three different origins which reared foster pups of the same inbred strain was observed. Multivariate analysis revealed differences in maternal style related either to genotype effects or to grandmaternal influences. The behavioural development of the pups was studied at days 10, 14 and 17 for neuromotor coordination and spontaneous activity, at day 21, 40 and 75 for locomotor activity and food hoarding in a semi natural environment and at day 120 of age for water escape learning performance. Body weights were noted at the same ages. Results showed both maternal effects (differences between pups reared by an inbred or hybrid mother) and great-grandmaternal effects (differences between pups reared by two reciprocal F2s). An analysis of correspondences between mother and pup behaviour permitted the description of a large panel of correlations suggesting causal relations between maternal activities and pups characteristics. These maternal activities may be considered primarily as agents of hereditary transmission.

Description des données d'observation continue du comportement par une technique d'analyse de textes 1. Mise enévidence de styles individuels de maternage dans une lignée consanguine de souris.

This study illustrates the use of an original technique to give a precise description of the developmental environment provided by female mice to their pups, and of his changes with the age of the pups. Successive events recorded by continous observation of maternal behaviour of C57BL/6 inbred mice were analysed by a technique devoted to textual analysis. The different mothers were easily characterised by differences in the frequencies of the behavioural items expressed on the nest. These individual differences were stable with increasing age of the pups. On the other hand, the frequencies of behavioural sequences showed differences related to the age of the pups. The psychological meaning of some behavioural items is suggested by the results. The relevance of multivariate techniques of description directly applied on initial data of continous observation is discussed.

Description des données d'observation continue du comportement par une technique d'analyse de textes. 2. Comparaisons des conduites maternelles dans trois souches de souris.

This study illustrates the use of multifactorial analysis to perform comparisons between different genotypic groups, based on behavioral profiles. Maternal behaviour of C57BL/6 mice and of two reciprocal F2 was precisely described by continous observation. Unpolished data were directly analysed by a textual analysis technique using correspondences analysis. Strains were clearly different according to the relative frequencies of the different acts. These differences seemed to be related to grand-maternal effects, as previously shown in the same strains. Pups age related variation between day 2 and day 6 was very low when compared to maternal styles of the three strains.

Description du comportement sexuel de Calliphora vomitoria (Diptera: Calliphoridae) par une technique d'analyse de textes

Description of the sexual behaviour of Calliphora vomitoria (Diptera: Calliphoridae) with a lexical analysis software package. The sexual behaviour of Calliphora vomitoria was described using a lexical analysis software package considering courtship as a series of words, without any arbitrary categorization. Normal as well as manipulated partners of both sexes were presented to the males. Results showed that normal courtship and copulation occurred when the wings were modified but present and correctly oriented, whereas perturbations were observed and copulation disappeared after inversion and various head modifications. Missing elements (head and wings) were less disruptive than their inversion. If the partner was supposed to be scanned from the head to the abdomen via the wings and if it was supposed to perceive the relative position of these different parts, it is obvious that the absence of an element did not act as an error message and courtship and copulation were preserved. On the other hand, inversion of the same elements seemed to induce wrong or inconsistent informations affecting courtship structure, probably because of sequence disturbance. The courtship preservation in front of every kind of manipulation leads us to question what image of the sexual partner is constructed.