Stereotypies in female farm mink (Mustela vison) may be genetically transmitted and associated with higher fertility due to effects on body weight

Increased reproductive output in stereotypic captive Rhabdomys females: Potential implications for captive breeding

“…In all three species, maternal stereotypic behaviour has been associated with improvement in at least some measures of fecundity. However, in mink, this relationship is not consistent across farms - Svendsen et al (2007) found no differences in reproduction between high and low stereotyping lines of animals -and Jeppesen et al (2004) study showed that the increased fertility and reduced pup mortality observed in stereotypic mothers could be better explained by the typically lower body weight of stereotypic dams, a mediating effect not observed in this study in Rhabdomys. Additionally, compared with Rhabdomys, the young of stereotypic mink females may grow more slowly in consequence of reduced levels of maternal care and the tendency of stereotypic dams to build less well insulated nests (Mason et al, 1995).…”

“…Jeppesen et al, 2004), we investigated this in these Rhabdomys. However, we found no mass difference between stereotypic and nonstereotypic mothers (Table 1) and controlling for dam mass in supplementary analyses did not change any of the results.…”

“…Second, the effect might be mediated via the pleiotropic promotion of stereotypic behaviour because it is indirectly related to a directly selected trait such as body condition (e.g. mink; Jeppesen et al, 2004), activity, or promiscuity. We have excluded the effect of body weight per se in Rhabdomys (although not of body composition), and our data argue against the pleiotropic selection for promiscuity because, whilst latency to first litter is shorter in stereotypic females, there is no difference in inter-litter interval, as would be expected if stereotypic striped mice were more likely to engage in impulsive sexual activity than non-stereotypic mice.…”

“…calves; Seo et al, 1998), and elevated reproductive success. In farmed mink (Mustela vison), for example, stereotypic females are sometimes more fertile and experience lower pup mortality than non-stereotypic females (Jeppesen et al, 2004;cf. Svendsen et al, 2007) and, in caged bank voles, stereotypic behaviour has recently been shown to be associated with better survival, fecundity, and therefore increased lifetime reproductive success (Schønecker, 2009).…”

“…2004) and increased reproductive success (Broom and Johnson, 1993;Wingfield and Sapolsky, 2003) reflect relatively low stress in sub-optimal cages; (2) that stereotypic behaviour has an indirect pleiotropic effect on reproductive success through its association with the directly selected trait of activity level or body condition, as is sometimes the case in mink (Jeppesen et al, 2004); or (3) that being of a fecund genotype predisposes animals to stereotypic behaviour, through genetic or epigenetic means, the latter perhaps influenced by litter-size mediated variations in the maternal care received in infancy (Priestnall, 1972). Whatever the mechanisms behind this relationship, because stereotypic behaviour typically has a genetic component (bank voles, Ö dberg, 1986;Schoenecker and Heller, 2000;mink, Jeppesen et al, 2004;Svendsen et al, 2007;domestic horses, Equus caballus, Kiley, 1977;Smith, 1984;striped mice, Jones et al, 2008;Schwaibold and Pillay, 2001), such findings strongly suggest that stereotypic genotypes may be selected for in captive conditions.…”