The quantity, the quality and the timing of food provision is important in determining the frequency and longevity of stereotypies among  farm animals (Appleby and Lawrence, 1987). Overall, if the animal does not consume enough macro and micronutrients, the animal will develop oral stereotypical behaviors (Appleby and Lawrence, 1987).

Why?

Not having enough food makes the animal feel uncomfortable, thus it being motivated to fill its stomach by expressing stereotypical behaviors (Robert et, 1993).  Also, if the animal did not have the opportunity to chew on its food for a long enough time, the innate behavior of chewing will be redirected  towards objects in order to compensate their inability to express their natural behavior (Robert et al., 1993).

When are oral stereotypies most prevalent?

Oral stereotypies increase in frequency around feeding time, and the reason why this is the case is not well understood yet (Savor and Maros, 1993).

 

Check out the following book for more information about oral stereotypies: