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Abstract

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Description

Social animals often search for food as a group. This foraging strategy brings about benefits as well as costs to the individual animal. Group foraging offers protection against predators due to joint vigilance and reduces predation risk of the individual. At the same time the foraging behaviour of group members may transfer information about food available. However, social foraging can lead to higher levels of competition over limited resources, in which case feeding solitarily would produce a greater intake. Thus there may be opposing motivations to eat in isolation and to eat as part of a group which in turn may lead to situations of conflict in both natural and domestic settings where animals are group-housed.

When an individual is faced with a motivational conflict arising from the need for social contact and the need for sufficient food intake, the animal has to make a choice. Factors such as the local environment, group structure, hunger level and previous experience of the individual will influence this choice. Furthermore the cognitive abilities of the species may influence how the individual can use the information provided by its surroundings.

In this project the foraging behaviour of pigs is investigated in relation to cognitive abilities, social motivation and hunger level. By presenting animals with choices while varying the local environment and simulating different levels of competition, the project seeks to answer some fundamental, biological questions about the strategic choices of slaughter pigs under different feeding scenarios. The knowledge obtained can support the development of more suitable foraging and feeding conditions of social, domestic animals, as well as laboratory animals and zoo animals.

Financing