Sn. Mirza et Fd. Provenza, SOCIALLY INDUCED FOOD AVOIDANCE IN LAMBS - DIRECT OR INDIRECT MATERNAL INFLUENCE, Journal of animal science, 72(4), 1994, pp. 899-902
Food avoidance can be directly motivated in the sense that an animal r
efrains from eating a food because of an aversion to it, or indirectly
motivated in the sense that an animal ingests little of one item beca
use it prefers another. We studied whether the reluctance of a lamb to
eat a shrub (Cercocarpus montanus) its mother avoided resulted from a
socially induced aversion to C. montanus or from a socially induced p
reference for an alternative shrub (Amelanchier alnifolia). Each lamb
(n = 6) in the treatment group was exposed with its mother to either A
. alnifolia or C. montanus for 5 min, followed by 5 min of exposure to
the other food for 5 d. Mothers in the treatment group avoided C. mon
tanus because its ingestion had previously been paired with lithium ch
loride, but they readily ate A. alnifolia. Each lamb in the control gr
oup (n = 6) was exposed with its mother to only A. alnifolia. Followin
g weaning, lambs in both groups strongly preferred A. alnifolia to C.
montanus when offered a choice between the two species (P < .05), but
they readily ate C. montanus when only C. montanus was offered. Accord
ingly, the data support the hypothesis that the low consumption of C.
montanus occurred as a result of a socially induced preference for A.
alnifolia, not as a result of a socially induced aversion to C. montan
us. If food avoidance had been directly mediated, lambs whose mothers
avoided C. montanus would have completely avoided the shrub during tes
ting, as in the case when acquired food aversions are directly mediate
d by toxins.