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Goats work for food in a contrafreeloading task.
K Rosenberger1,2, M Simmler3, C Nawroth4
1Swiss Federal Veterinary Office, Centre for Proper Housing of Ruminants and Pigs, Agroscope, 8356, Ettenhausen, Switzerland. katrina.rosenberger@agroscope.admin.ch.
Scientific Reports
|December 22, 2020
Summary
Goats exhibit contrafreeloading (CFL), choosing to work for food even when free food is available. Breeding for productivity did not significantly alter this innate behavior in dairy goats compared to dwarf goats.
Area of Science:
- Animal behavior
- Ethology
- Animal cognition
Background:
- Contrafreeloading (CFL) describes animals working for resources despite free access.
- Potential explanations include seeking behavioral context or environmental control.
- The impact of selective breeding on CFL in goats is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate contrafreeloading behavior in goats.
- To determine if selective breeding for productivity traits influences CFL.
- To compare CFL in Nigerian dwarf goats and high-yield dairy goats.
Main Methods:
- A manipulation task was used to assess CFL in two goat selection lines.
- Goats could choose between not participating, free feeding, or working for food.
- Behavioral data were analyzed using an Item Response Tree (IRTree) generalized linear mixed model (GLMM).
Main Results:
- Both goat lines showed high participation rates (>0.87) in the task.
- Dwarf goats demonstrated an increasing CFL tendency over trials (0.30 to 0.53).
- Dairy goats maintained a consistent CFL probability (approx. 0.43) and approached the work option faster.
Conclusions:
- Goats exhibit contrafreeloading behavior, irrespective of selection for productivity.
- While CFL interest was similar, dairy goats showed faster engagement with the work task.
- Selective breeding may influence the expression of CFL rather than its presence.
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