Familiar odour and flavour cues reduce feed neophobia in sheep

Abstract

The influence of familiar odour and flavour cues on the feeding behaviour, acceptance and intake of a novel food (wheat grain) by sheep was determined with 36 mature Coopworth ewes. Three treatment groups (control, familiar odour, familiar flavour) were subjected to familiarisation and testing procedures. Ewes in the odour and flavour treatments were exposed to the wheat in conjunction with the smell and taste of a water extract of lucerne. The speed of acceptance of the wheat by all 3 groups, including those in the control group, suggested that these ewes had probably been exposed to wheat prior to this experiment, however, the presence of the lucerne odour and flavour reduced the variability in wheat intake between animals and hastened their acceptance and intake still further. The implications of these findings are discussed.