Usually, animals are also more comfortable and avoid unnecessary strain when searching for food. However, this can be reversed in domesticated and captive animals, as an experiment with goats has now confirmed. They often chose the food voluntarily, for which they had to work harder – apparently this gave them satisfaction. According to the researchers, this should be taken into account for animal welfare.
Animals typically follow the instinct to secure the food source that they can reach with as little effort as possible. Because if they use more energy, they have to eat more accordingly. However, researchers have observed that domesticated pigs, cattle and goats or wild zoo animals, for example, do not always follow this maxim. They often choose the food that is harder to come by. Behind this is what is known as “contrafreeloading”.
“This term describes the behavior of animals, who would rather make an effort to find a coveted resource than be presented with it,” explains Nina Keil from the Agroscope research institute in Ettenhausen, Switzerland. According to scientists, this peculiarity could be traced back to the animals’ instinctive urge to collect as much information as possible about their environment. If they do this in times of abundant food availability, this information can later benefit them when there is a lack of food, according to the theory.
Highly bred dairy goats in the test
Researchers working with Katrina Rosenberger from the University of Bern have now investigated whether this behavior also occurs in farm animals that are always given plenty of food and bred for high productivity. To do this, they tested 27 Nigerian dwarf goats, a relatively original breed of goat, and 30 dairy goats that were bred for high milk yield. They observed each hoofed animal ten times, whether it opted for freely available food or for food behind a closed sliding door. To get to the food behind the door, the four-legged friends had to push it aside with their mouths. The closed door changed position with each pass. The researchers also documented whether the goats were moving quickly or slowly towards the food.
It turned out: “In this test arrangement, the goats of both breeding lines opted for the second option in almost half of the cases. So you like to face such challenges, ”report the scientists. They found that 53 of the 57 goats observed were motivated to open the sliding door with their mouth at least once in ten times in order to receive the reward.
Dairy goats interested in the challenge
What is interesting, however, is that the behavior of the two groups of goats differed during the course of the experiment. The pygmy goats chose the closed door hesitantly, then more and more frequently. From this, the researchers conclude that, although they generally react positively to the challenge, they first need time to face the task and get used to it. With the dairy goats, however, the interest in the closed door always remained the same. From the start, they usually approached the closed door faster than the freely available food. According to Rosenberger and her team, this could be an indication of increased motivation for the challenge.
“We expected the pygmy goats to be interested, as it had already been observed in a similar experiment,” explains Rosenberger. “On the other hand, we were surprised by the dairy goats: We had expected that the farm animals bred for high milk yield would save their energy and would be less motivated to try to get a reward. Especially when the same reward is available without any effort. “
Overall, the results suggest that “contrafreeloading” also occurs in animals that have been bred for high performance. The researchers advise observing this behavior when keeping these animals. “Animal-friendly husbandry should also take the cognitive needs of animals into account,” explains Keil. “We assume that the animals display this behavior because solving a task and the associated control over their environment trigger positive feelings. You will probably get a satisfaction out of it that outweighs the additional effort, ”says Keil. “We now have to repeat the experiment under real conditions on a farm and over a longer period of time to see how the animals’ motivation develops.” It is also unknown whether the behavior of wild animals can be observed in the wild.
Source: Swiss National Science Foundation, specialist article: Scientific Reports, doi: 10.1038 / s41598-020-78931-w