Domestication & Animal Traits

Lecture 1: Domestication and Animal Traits

• Domestication involves genetically changing a population of organisms through selective breeding to enhance traits beneficial to humans
• Domestic animals include common pets and livestock like cats, dogs, horses, and cows

Degrees of Domestication

• Wild animals exhibit a "fight or flight" response
• Tamed animals show some reliance on humans
• Semi-domesticated animals have a human-animal relationship
• Domesticated animals are fully reliant on humans

Common Changes in Domesticated Traits

• Tameness is linked to adrenal glands
• Coat color involves melanocytes
• Reduced skull size relates to chondrocytes
• Reduced teeth size involves odontocytes
• Morphological alterations can occur
• Floppy ears can develop

Belyaev's Fox Experiment

• Foxes were selected based on temperament
• The experiment began with 465 foxes
• Aimed to replicate wolf domestication into modern dogs
• Initial behavioral distribution: 30% extremely reactive, 40% moderately reactive, 20% fearful, 10% quiet & exploratory
• Breeding criterion was flight threshold distance

Tameness and Hormones

• Tameness is characterized by reduced stress hormone release
• It leads to reduced fight-or-flight response
• It causes decreased reactivity to new situations
• Hormones are produced by adrenal glands
• Long-term hormones include glucocorticoids like cortisol, regulating neonatal development
• Short-term hormones include catecholamines like epinephrine and norepinephrine
• Domestic animals typically show a reduction in these hormones compared to wild animals

Neural Crest Hypothesis

• Genetic changes in neural crest cells result in domestication traits
• Domestication involves a reduction in the size of the neural crest
• It reduces the population of cells derived from the neural crest
• It causes tameness due to reduced stress hormone synthesis
• Cells producing these hormones originate from the neural crest
• Fewer neural crest cells present results in domestication syndrome

Wolf Domestication

• Wolves with shorter flight distances benefited from human food waste, providing a competitive advantage
• These wolves preferentially bred with each other
• Development of domestication syndrome occurred

Domestication Pathways

• Commensal pathway progresses from habituation to partnership and then directed breeding
• Prey pathway goes from prey to game management, herd management, and directed breeding

Lecture 2: Animal Systems and Production

Extensive vs. Intensive Animal Systems

• Extensive systems use minimal capital inputs and unprocessed, low-nutrient, high-fiber diets, with minimal confinement and handling
• Beef cattle, sheep, and goats are examples of animals raised in extensive systems
• Intensive systems use significant capital inputs, processed, nutrient-dense diets, and confinement production to achieve economies of scale
• Pork, dairy, and poultry are examples of animals raised in intensive systems

Sector Types

• Cow-calf operations represent primary extensive production, utilizing pasture and rangeland
• Backgrounding/stocker operations manage animals with forage/pasture diets, resulting in slow growth
• Feedlot/finishing operations use intensive production with primarily concentrate diets
• Packing sector relates to intensive production, specifically with feedlots having some pasture

Animal Lifecycle Terms

• Cow is a mature female
• Heifer is a young female
• Bull is a sexually mature uncastrated male
• Steer is a castrated male before sexual maturity
• Calf is a neonatal animal up to 5 months of age
• Gestation period lasts 283 days, with 82 days to get pregnant post calving

Pork Terms

• Sow is a mature female pig
• Gilt is an immature female pig before its second pregnancy
• Boar is a mature male pig
• Barrow is a castrated male pig
• Piglet is a neonatal pig before weaning
• Farrowing is the act of giving birth to piglets

Modern Swine Production

• Modern swine production involves raising pigs in total confinement throughout their lives
• Biosecurity is very important on commercial farms
• Limited visitors are allowed
• Breeding is done through artificial insemination
• Gestation takes 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days

Farrowing Management

• Sows are kept in individual crates
• Average litter size is 15 piglets
• The average birth weight is 1.2 kg
• Colostrum intake is critical in the first 6 hours
• Most sows have 12 teats

Weaning

• Weaning is abrupt
• Piglets are moved to a nursery
• Piglets transition from milk to solid feed
• Piglets are mixed with other piglets
• Piglets are 21-28 days old at weaning

Grow-Finish Phase

• Piglets spend after 5 weeks in the nursery
• Piglets spend this time housed in large groups
• Diets are changed as pigs mature
• Pigs are ready for market in 15 weeks, weighing 125 to 130 kg

Dairy Production

• The dairy lifecycle progresses from lactation cycle to lifespan to calves
• Parturition and milk fever in cows require them to mobilize large amounts of calcium from the skeleton
• Insufficient calcium can cause muscle tremors, staggering, lying flat, heart failure and death
• Treatment involves intravenous calcium

Supply Management

• Milk production is designed to meet Canadian demand
• Limited exports and imports of milk and milk products happen
• The quantity of milk required is established for each province
• Quota is a license to produce up to a set amount of milk
• A national marketing agency determines production amounts and sets provincial production quotas
• Producers are guaranteed minimum prices for their products
• High tariffs make imported dairy more expensive

Importance of Colostrum

• Calves are born without immunoglobulins in their bloodstream
• The newborn small intestine absorbs immunoglobulins into the blood for the first 24 hours after birth, called passive immunity
• Antibodies are Y-shaped proteins that bind to bacteria and viruses to help prevent disease

Lecture 3: Beef Industry and Forages

North American Beef Industry

• The beef industry is split into production sectors, including cow-calf, backgrounding, feedlot, and packer operations
• There are over 90,000 beef producers
• The Canadian beef industry includes 15 million cattle and calves
• Majority are family fun operations

Forages in Cow-Calf Management

• Forages are pastures, hay, straw, and silage considered the foundation of the beef industry
• Feed is the highest variable cost in beef production
• Forages focus on energy, protein, minerals, vitimins and water

Canada's Traceability Program

• This is based on animal identification with radio-frequency tags
• It requires individual and premise IDs for cattle to leave a property
• Premise identification and animal movement are tracked

Cattle Breed Variations

• Dominant breeds include Angus, Simmental, Hereford, Charolais, and Limousin
• Breeds vary in color, carcass quality, behavior, frame size, and feed efficiency

Weaned Calf Sales

• Calves are sold in groups through auction mart to feedlot buyers
• Internet/video sales are used
• Forward contracts with feedlots involve delivering calves for a pre-arranged price, eliminating sale barns

Lecture 4: Poultry and Supply Management

Poultry Terminology

• Broiler refers to meat chickens
• Layer refers to table egg production chickens
• Rooster refers to male chickens
• Tom refers to male turkeys
• Hen refers to female turkeys or chickens

Chicken Consumption

• Chicken is the most consumed meat because Canada uses a supply management system, producing as much as is consumed

Poultry Supply Management

• This features family farms in Canada
• It means producers receive a steady income
• Vaccines are available, but use is subject to politician’s approval
• More than 1000 boilers is considered commercial

Advantages of Poultry Supply Management

• Assures steady income for producers

• Sustains predictable supply without surplus

• Allows support added welfare initiatives

• Allows boards to provide say in animal welfare practices

Disadvantages of Poultry Supply Management

• Products are more expensive
• Future producers must purchase quota

Lecture 5: Horse Domestication and Breeding

Horse Evolution and Domestication

• Equus evolved in North America before migrating to Eurasia
• They spread across the Eurasian steppes
• Horses were initially hunted for food
• Raised in captivity, domestication commenced

Horse Use Through History

• Horses were first used for carrying and hauling
• Later, they aided affective are tactics
• Subsequently they were used for riding

Coat Color Disadvantages

• Certain colors have selective disadvantages in the wild
• Negative pleiotropic effects result, where a single gene affects multiple systems
  • Grey: Melanomas
  • Silver: MCOA- eye disorder
  • Leopard Spotting: CSNB
  • Overo Pinto: OLWFS
  • Splashed white: Deafness
  • Overo: Deafness
  • White: Embryonic lethal
  • Roan: Embryonic lethal

Detrimental Effects of Specialization

• Breeding for small size- dwarfism
• Breeding for heavily muscled quarter horses- periodic paralysis
• Breeding for speed- propagate fragility
• "Popular sire"- disequilibrium between detrimental genes and performance genes

Lecture 6: Origin and Production of Domestic Swine

• Domestic pigs were likely domesticated in China (490 B.C.) and England (800 B.C.)
• The latin name for pigs is "Sus scrofa domesticus"

Common Swine Breeds

• Yorkshire makes up 42% of herds
• Landrace makes up 32% of herds
• Duroc makes up 25% of herds
• Others include Hampshire, Lacombe, Pietrain, Berkshire

Terms Related to Swine Production

• Swine = pig
• Pork = pig meat
• Sow = mother pig
• Gilt = of breeding age, not having had piglets
• Weaning = removing young from mother
• Hog = pig ready to be processed
• Process/harvest = slaughter for meat
• Boar = adult male pig for breeding
• Farrowing = the act of parturition in pigs

Pork Production in Saskatchewan

• SK is responsible for 8.5% of all pig production
• SK is the 5th largest producer in hogs

How swine operations are improving

• Advances in technology and transportation
• Economies of scale

Lecture 7: Trends and Effects of Pet Domestication

Ownership

• Cat ownership is > than dog ownership
• There are 8.5 million cats as pets
• There are 7.9 million dogs as pets

Pet Costs

• Pet cats cost ~ $2,542
• Per dogs cost ~ $2,500 + $1,000

Pet Store Trends

• Ontario had 770 pet stores in 2021
• Brick and mortar stores are declining
• Online purchases are increasing

Impacts from Domestication on Characteristics of Dogs Vs Cats

• Dogs started with hunter-gatherer societies, descended from unknown wolf, started as mutual co-existence then companionship
  • Resulted in altered appearance and behavior
  • Resulted in increased ability to digest carbohydrate-rich diet through amylase enzyme increase Cats are more recent
• cats are much moreso independent compared to dogs
  • Domestication has not changes how cats look/behave -Easily revert to feral
  • Diet/metabolism untouched from wild

Pet ownership benefits

• Social support
• Companionship
• Mental health
• Motivates exercise
• Assisted activities
• Empathy, social skills

Pet ownership risks

• Infections, parasites
• Allergies
• Bites, injury
• Financial burden
• Burden of loss
• Neglect

Animal Assisted Therapy vs Activities

Animal assisted therapy

• Part of treatment for people who need social, emotional, physical therapy, or are cognitively challenged
  • Includes goals, scheduled events, and individual treatment
  • Administered by trained professionals in detail

Animal Assisted Activities

• Casual activities involving pets and peoples
• Low or no specificity; volunteer based
• Flexible in duration

Lecture 8: Dairy Cow Management

• Milk supply management: production meets the needs of Canadians; limits on exports/imports and volume for each province
• Artificial insemination, a calf annually, housed calves, feed milk replacer, shift to lean growth, breed @ 13-15 months, calving at 24

Aspects of dairy cattle management

• Colostrum and passive transfer
• Changes in milk yield
• Cow comfort
• Mammary gland

What good cows need to succeed:

• Great place
• Adequate nutrition
• Calm handling

Mammary glands

• Use it or lose it policy means stimulating it's development
• Regular milking during lactation stimulates cell development
• Increased cells development has carry over effects
• Nutrient demand increases tremendously

Lecture 9: Indigenous Principles for Sustainable Aquaculture

Indigenous Similarities and Differences

• There are distinct cultures including First Nations, ‘Metis’, and ‘Inuit’ here in Canada
• Each of these has different cultures, histories, practices, and beliefs

Indigenous Principles

- Transparency and First Nations Inclusiveness
- Social responsibility
- Environmental responsibility
- Economic responsibility

Aboriginal and nonAboriginal culture aspects:

- Unique culture
-Unique history, ancestral connection
-May have mistrust of conventional science
-Aquatic rights
- Create jobs
- Higher prices

Explore animal domestication, its degrees, and common trait changes like tameness and coat color. Learn about Belyaev's fox experiment, which replicates wolf domestication showing how foxes were selected based on temperament, mirroring the evolution of dogs.