Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T04:33:10.951Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Genetic aspects of appetite and feed choice in animals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

J. B. Owen
J. B. Owen
Affiliation:
School of Agricultural and Forest Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2UW, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Body composition in wild animals is regulated within a band that encompasses variations due to seasonal food supply and physiological state (e.g. that of the reproducing, lactating female and the growing juvenile). This body composition is characteristic of the genotype and is notable for the avoidance of obesity (Pitts & Bullard 1968). Urgent behavioural responses are also invoked to minimize weight loss. Figure 1 illustrates this homeostasis diagrammatically for the non-lactating, mature animal.

In this integrated complex, both food intake (quantity) and diet choice (quality) play a major role in achieving the required balance between food-energy intake and ‘net output’ of energy in its various forms such as activity, growth, lactation and change in body reserves. The development of such a system, through evolution, to achieve optimum reproductive fitness in a given environment, is consistent with the theory of optimal foraging which is characteristic of many animals in the wild. Newman (1991) has used such an approach in modelling diet selection by sheep.

Domesticated animals have inherited the complex genome of their progenitors, albeit modified in certain respects through natural and artificial selection, in their new circumstances. Many aspects of the physiology and behaviour of the domesticated animal still relate to the environment in which they evolved. For example Jensen & Redbo (1987) have demonstrated the complex nesting behaviour retained by the modern domestic pig, under free ranging conditions similar to those of its wild progenitor.

Two major non-genetic factors have emerged as major influences on the appetite of domesticated animals and man in modern times.

Type
Review
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 119 , Issue 2 , October 1992 , pp. 151 - 155
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bernon, D. E. & Chambers, J. R. (1988). Genetic parameters of unadjusted and adjusted age-constant feed consumption and efficiency of meat type chickens. Poultry Science 67, 1497–1504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bishop, S. C. & Hill, W. G. (1985). Effects of selection on growth, body composition, and food intake in mice. III. Correlated responses: growth, body composition, food intake and efficiency and catabolism. Genetical Research 46, 57–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brandt, H., Hong, K. C. & Glodek, P. (1984). Genetic aspects of feed intake in German station testing in three breeds of pigs. Animal Breeding Abstracts 53 (Abstract No. 1476).Google Scholar
Chiy, C. P., Phillips, C. J. C. & Lockwood, A. E. (1991). The effects of sodium chloride application to pasture or its direct supplementation, on dairy cow production and grazing preference. Grass and Forage Science 46, 325–332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drewnowski, A., Halmi, K. A., Pierce, B., Gibbs, J. & Smith, G. P. (1987). Taste and eating disorders. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 46, 442–450.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Flock, D. K. (1970). Genetic parameters of German Landrace pigs estimated from different relationships. Journal of Animal Science 30, 839–843.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Forbes, J. M. (1986). The Voluntary Food Intake of Farm Animals. London: Butterworths.Google Scholar
Gordon, J. G. & Tribe, D. E. (1951). The self-selection of diet by pregnant ewes. Journal of Agricultural Science 41, 187–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hagger, C. & Abplanalp, H. (1978). Food consumption records for the genetic improvement of income over food costs in laying flocks of White Leghorns. British Poultry Science 19, 651–667.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hale, C. & Green, L. (1988). Effects of early ingestional experiences on the acquisition of appropriate food selection by young chicks. Animal Behaviour 36, 211–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jensen, P. & Redbo, I. (1987). Behaviour during nest leaving in free ranging domestic pigs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 18, 355–362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Korver, S. (1988). Genetic aspects of feed intake and feed efficiency in dairy cattle: a review. Livestock Production Science 20, 1–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kyriazakis, I. & Emmans, G. C. (1991). Diet selection in pigs: dietary choices made by growing pigs following a period of underfeeding with protein. Animal Production 52, 337–346.Google Scholar
Lawrence, A. B., Appleby, M. C., Illius, A. W. & Macleod, H. A. (1989). Measuring hunger in the pig using operant conditioning: the effect of dietary bulk. Animal Production 48, 213–220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leuthold, G., Voight, W. & Reinecke, P. (1988). Ergebnisse aus Untersuchungen zur zuchterischen Verbesserung der Futteraufnahme bei Milchkuhen (Improvement of feed intake in dairy cows by breeding) Berichte, Humboldt Universitat, Berlin 8, 52–61.Google Scholar
Longhurst, W. M., Oh, H. K., Jones, M. B. & Kepner, R. E. (1968). A basis for the palatability of deer forage plants. North American Wildlife Natural Resource Conference Transactions 33, 181–192.Google Scholar
Newman, J. A. (1991). Diet selection by sheep: a telenomic approach. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 117, 130 (abs).Google Scholar
Owen, J. B. (1990). Weight control and appetite: nature over nurture. Animal Breeding Abstracts 58, 583–591.Google Scholar
Owen, J. B. (1991). Spider and other major genes in farm livestock. In Breeding for Disease Resistance in Farm Animals (Eds Owen, J. B. & Axford, R. F. E.), pp. 439–448. Wallingford: CAB International.Google Scholar
Owen, J. B. & Ridgman, W. J. (1967). The effect of dietary energy content on the voluntary intake of pigs. Animal Production 9, 107–113.Google Scholar
Owen, J. B., Miller, E. L. & Bridge, P. S. (1968). A study of the voluntary intake of food and water and the lactation performance of cows given diets of varying roughage content ad libitum. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 70, 223–235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Persaud, P., Simm, G. & Hill, W. G. (1991). Genetic and phenotypic parameters for yield, food intake and efficiency of dairy cows fed ad libitum. 1. Estimates for ‘total’ lactation measures and their relationship with live-weight traits. Animal Production 52, 435–444.Google Scholar
Pitts, G. C. & Bullard, T. R. (1968). Some interspecific aspects of body composition in mammals. In Body Composition in Animals and Man (Eds Reid, J. T., Breidenstein, B. C., Hansard, S. L., Stenaker, H. H. & Zobrisky, S. E.), pp. 45–70. Washington DC: National Academy of Sciences.Google Scholar
Prats, E., Monpar, M., Castella, J., Iglesias, R. & Alemany, M. (1989). Energy intake of rats fed a cafeteria diet. Physiology and Behavior 45, 263–272.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Provenza, F. D. & Malechek, J. C. (1986). A comparison of food selection and foraging behaviour in juvenile and adult goats. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 16, 49–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ralphs, M. H., Mickelsen, L. V. & Turner, D. L. (1987). Cattle grazing white locoweed: diet selection patterns of native and introduced cattle. Journal of Range Management 40, 333–335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rothwell, N. J. & Stock, M. J. (1979). Regulation of energy balance in two models of reversible obesity in the rat. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 93, 1024–1034.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rozin, P. (1976). The selection of food by rats, humans and other animals. In Advances in the Study of Behaviour (Eds Rosenblatt, J. S., Hinde, R. A., Shaw, E. S. & Beer, C.), pp. 21–76. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Sharp, G. L., Hill, W. G. & Robertson, A. (1984). Effects of selection on growth, body composition and food intake in mice. I. Responses in selected traits. Genetical Research 43, 75–92.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Siegel, P. B., Cherry, J. A. & Dunnington, E. A. (1984). Feeding behaviour and feed consumption in chickens selected for body weight. Annales Agriculturae Fenniae 23, 247–252.Google Scholar
Smith, W. C., Ellis, M., Chadwick, J. P. & Laird, R. (1991). The influence of index selection for improved growth and carcass characteristics on appetite in a population of Large White pigs. Animal Production 52, 193–199.Google Scholar
Steane, D. E., Evans, D. G. & Kempster, A. J. (1984). A practical estimation of G/E in the United Kingdom. Paper presented at the 35th annual meeting of the European Association of Animal Production 1984.Google Scholar
Stern, J. S. (1983). Is obesity a disease of inactivity? Psychiatric Annals 13, 858–860.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Binsbergen, C. J. M., Hulshof, K. F. A. M., Wedel, M., Odink, J. & Coelingbennink, H. J. T. (1988). Food preferences and aversions and dietary pattern in anorexia nervosa patients. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 42, 671–678.Google ScholarPubMed
Wallin, A. (1988). The genetics of foraging behaviour: Artificial selection for food choice in larvae of the fruitfly, Drosophila melanogaster. Animal Behaviour 36, 106–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weiskrantz, L. & Cowey, A. (1963). The aetiology of food reward in monkeys. Animal Behaviour 11, 225–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whiten, A., Byrne, R. W., Waterman, P. G. & Henzi, S. P. (1991). Dietary and foraging strategies of baboons. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B334, 187–194.Google Scholar
Wood-Gush, D. G. M. (1988). The relevance of the knowledge of free ranging domesticated animals for animal husbandry. In Proceedings of the International Congress on Applied Ethology of Farm Animals, Skara (Eds Van Putten, G., Unshelm, J. & Zeeb, K.). Darmstadt: Kuratorium fur Technik und Bauwesen in der Landwirtschaft.Google Scholar
Wyllie, D., Morton, J. R. & Owen, J. B. (1979). Genetic aspects of voluntary food intake in the pig and their association with gain and food conversion efficiency. Animal Production 28, 381–390.Google Scholar