Acute post-orchiectomy pain does not reduce alpha rams’ interest in feed resources

Abstract

Sheep pain is an animal welfare issue monitored based on behavioral responses, including appetite. Dominant (alpha) males have priority for accessing limited feed resources, however, the effects of pain on feed interest in members of a group with defined social hierarchy are unknown. Our objective was to investigate effects of acute post-orchiectomy pain on alpha rams’ interest in accessing a limited feed resource. Eighteen rams were randomly housed in pens of 3 rams. After acclimation, the first 5-d (consecutive) battery of a behavior test was performed. In this test, 180 g of the regular diet concentrate was placed in a portable trough in the center of the pen; this feed was supplemental to the diet and represented a limited, albeit strongly preferable feed resource. Rams were filmed for 5 min after the feed introduction. Hierarchical levels (alpha, beta, and gamma) were defined based on the social hierarchical index according to higher initiator and lower receptor agonistic behaviors from the social network analyses. After 15 d, a second 5-d behavioral test battery was repeated. On the following day, alpha rams were castrated. Flunixin meglumine was given immediately before surgery and a final behavioral test was performed 8 h post-orchiectomy, concurrent with an expected peak in postoperative pain. For all recordings, the latency, frequency, and duration of time that each ram had its mouth inside the feed trough were recorded, and the Unesp-Botucatu sheep acute pain scale pain scale (USAPS) was applied. The social hierarchical index was highest in alpha rams, followed by beta and gamma. The pain scores were statistically equivalent across the 11 evaluation days for beta and gamma rams, whereas there was an increase in the final evaluation for alpha. There was no difference in latency, frequency, and duration between alpha, beta, and gamma rams across evaluations. We concluded that acute post-orchiectomy pain did not decrease alpha rams’ interest in accessing limited feed. Routine feeding offers a valuable chance to detect pain-related behavior using the USAPS in rams. However, dominance may confound appetite-related behaviors in assessing acute pain, as alpha rams’ interest in limited feed remained unaffected by the pain.