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herds. usally social animals that travels in packs. herds are   are pretty big. They pretty much live together as once the food is gone. they move to greenier pastures. Always travelling in packs and possibly a way to find mate. Also acting as protection for the herd. as many eyes are helpful. It also acts as community for them. as herds are mostly made of social animals

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Boy herding a flock of sheep, India; a classic example of the domestic herding of animals

Wildebeest at the Ngorongoro Crater; an example of a herd in the wild

A herd is a social group of certain animals of the same species, either wild or domestic. The form of collective animal behavior associated with this is called . These animals are known as gregarious animals.

The term herd is generally applied to mammals, and most particularly to the grazing ungulates that classically display this behaviour. Different terms are used for similar groupings in other species; in the case of birds, for example, the word is , but flock may also be used for mammals, particularly sheep or goats. Large groups of carnivores are usually called , and in nature a herd is classically subject to predation from pack hunters.

Special collective nouns may be used for particular taxa (for example a flock of geese, if not in flight, is sometimes called a gaggle) but for theoretical discussions of behavioural ecology, the generic term herd can be used for all such kinds of assemblage.[citation needed ]

The word herd, as a noun, can also refer to one who controls, possesses and has care for such groups of animals when they are domesticated. Examples of herds in this sense include shepherds (who tend to sheep), goatherds (who tend to goats), and cowherds (who tend to cattle).

A herd of cows in Punjab.

When an association of animals (or, by extension, people) is described as a herd, the implication is that the group tends to act together (for example, all moving in the same direction at a given time), but that this does not occur as a result of planning or coordination. Rather, each individual is choosing behaviour in correspondence with most other members, possibly through imitation or possibly because all are responding to the same external circumstances. A herd can be contrasted with a coordinated group where individuals have distinct roles. Many human groupings, such as army detachments or sports teams, show such coordination and differentiation of roles, but so do some animal groupings such as those of eusocial insects, which are coordinated through pheromones and other forms of animal communication.

A herd is, by definition, relatively unstructured. However, there may be two or a few animals which tend to be imitated by the bulk of the herd more than others. An animal in this role is called a "control animal", since its behaviour will predict that of the herd as a whole. It cannot be assumed, however, that the control animal is deliberately taking a leadership role; control animals are not necessarily socially dominant in conflict situations, though they often are. Group size is an important characteristic of the social environment of gregarious species.

Traffic jam created by a herd of cattle in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The reason why animals form herds can not always be stated easily, since the underlying mechanisms are diverse and complex. Understanding the social behaviour of animals and the formation of groups has been a fundamental goal in the field of sociobiology and behavioural ecology. Theoretical framework is focused on the costs and benefits associated with living in groups in terms of the fitness of each individual compared to living solitarily. Living in groups evolved independently multiple times in various taxa and can only occur if its benefits outweigh the costs within an evolutionary timescale. Thus, animals form groups whenever this increases their fitness compared to living in solitary.

The following includes an outline about some of the major effects determining the trade-offs for living in groups.

Perhaps the most studied effect of herds is the so-called dilution effect. The key argument is that the risk of being preyed upon for any particular individual is smaller within a larger group, strictly due to the fact that a predator has to decide which individual to attack. Although the dilution effect is influenced by so-called selfish herding, it is primarily a direct effect of group size instead of the position within a herd. Greater group sizes result in higher visibility and detection rates for predators, but this relation is not directly proportional and saturates at some point, while the risk of being attacked for an individual is directly proportional to group size. Thus, the net effect for an individual in a group concerning its predation risk is beneficial.

Whenever groups, such as shoals of fish, synchronize their movements, it becomes harder for predators to focus on particular individuals. However, animals that are weak and slower or on the periphery are preferred by predators, so that certain positions within the group are better than others (see selfish herd theory). For fit animals, being in a group with such vulnerable individuals may thus decrease the chance of being preyed upon even further.

A snow goose gaggle may contain thousands.

Meerkats (Suricata suricatta) take turn to keep guard while other members of the group are resting or feeding.

The effect of collective vigilance in social groups has been widely studied within the framework of optimal foraging theory and animal decision making. While animals under the risk of predation are feeding or resting, they have to stay vigilant and watch for predators. It could be shown in many studies (especially for birds) that with increase in group size individual animals are less attentive, while the overall vigilance suffers little (many eyes effect). This means food intake and other activities related to fitness are optimized in terms of time allocation when animals stay in groups.

However, some details about this concepts remain unclear. Being the first to detect predators and react accordingly can be advantageous, implying individuals may not fully be able to rely only on the group. Moreover, the competition for food can lead to the misuse of warning calls, as was observed for great tits: If food is scarce or monopolized by dominant birds, other birds (mainly subordinates) use antipredatory warning calls to induce an interruption of feeding and gain access to resources.

Another study concerning a flock of geese suggested that the benefits of lower vigilance concerned only those in central positions, due to the fact that the possibly more vulnerable individuals in the flock's periphery have a greater need to stay attentive. This implies that the decrease in overall vigilance arises simply because the geese on the edge of the flock comprise a smaller group when groups get large. A special case of collective vigilance in groups is that of sentinels. Individuals take turn in keeping guard, while all others participate in other activities. Thus, the strength of social bonds and trust within these groups have to be much higher than in the former cases.

Hunting together enables group-living predators, such as wolves and wild dogs, to catch large prey, which they are unable to achieve when hunting alone. Working together significantly improves foraging efficiency, meaning the net energy gain of each individual is increased when animals are feeding collectively. As an example, a group of Spinner dolphins is able to corral fish into a smaller volume, which makes catching them easier, as there is less opportunity for the fish to escape. Furthermore, large groups are able to monopolize resources and defend them against solitary animals or smaller groups of the same or different species. It has been shown that larger groups of lions tend to be more successful in protecting prey from hyenas than smaller ones. Being able to communicate the location and type of food to other group members may increase the chance for each individual to find profitable food sources, a mechanism which is known to be used by both bees (via a Waggle dance) and several species birds (using specific vocalisations to indicate food).

In terms of Optimal foraging theory, animals always try to maximize their net energy gain when feeding, because this is positively correlated to their fitness. If their energy requirement is fixed and additional energy is not increasing fitness, they will use as little time for foraging as possible (time minimizers). If on the other hand time allocated to foraging is fixed, an animal's gain in fitness is related to the quantity and quality of resources it feeds on (Energy maximizers).

Since foraging may be energetically costly (searching, hunting, handling, etc.) and may induce risk of predation, animals in groups may have an advantage, since their combined effort in locating and handling food will reduce time needed to forage sufficiently. Thus, animals in groups may have shorter searching and handling times as well as an increased chance of finding (or monopolizing) highly profitable food, which makes foraging in groups beneficial for time minimizers and energy maximizers alike.

The obvious disadvantage of foraging in groups is (scramble or direct) competition with other group members. In general, it is clear that the amount of resources available for each individual decreases with group size. If the resource availability is critical, competition within the group may get so intense, that animals no longer experience benefits from living in groups. However, only the relative importance of within- and between-group competition determines the optimal group size and ultimately the decision of each individual whether or not to stay in the group.

Since animals in groups stay near each other and interact frequently, infectious diseases and parasites spread much easier between them compared to solitary animals. Studies have shown a positive correlation between herd size and intensity of infections, but the extent to which this sometimes drastic reduction in fitness governs group size and structure is still unclear. However, some animals have found countermeasures such as propolis in beehives or grooming in social animals.

Staying together in groups often brings energetic advantages. Birds flying together in a flock use aerodynamic effects to reduce energetic costs, e.g. by positioning themselves in a V-shaped formation. A similar effect can be observed when fish swim together in fixed formations.

Another benefit of group living occurs when climate is harsh and cold: By staying close together animals experience better thermoregulation, because their overall surface to volume ratio is reduced. Consequently, maintaining adequate body temperatures becomes less energetically costly.

The collective force of a group mobbing predators can reduce risk of predation significantly. Flocks of raven are able to actively defend themselves against eagles and baboons collectively mob lions, which is impossible for individuals alone. This behaviour may be based on reciprocal altruism, meaning animals are more likely to help each other if their conspecifics did so earlier.

Animals living in groups are more likely to find mates than those living in solitary and are also able to compare potential partners in order to optimize genetic quality for their offspring.

A shepherd guiding his sheep through the high desert outside of Marrakech, Morocco

Domestic animal herds are assembled by humans for practicality in raising them and controlling them. Their behaviour may be quite different from that of wild herds of the same or related species, since both their composition (in terms of the distribution of age and sex within the herd) and their history (in terms of when and how the individuals joined the herd) are likely to be very different.

The term herd is also applied metaphorically to human beings in social psychology, with the concept of herd behaviour. However both the term and concepts that underlie its use are controversial.

The term has acquired a semi-technical usage in behavioral finance to describe the largest group of market investors or market speculators who tend to "move with the market", or "follow the general market trend". This is at least a plausible example of genuine herding, though according to some researchers it results from rational decisions through processes such as information cascade and rational expectations. Other researchers, however, ascribe it to non-rational process such as mimicry, fear and greed contagion. "Contrarians" or contrarian investors are those who deliberately choose to invest or speculate counter to the "herd".

Krause, J., & Ruxton, G. D. (2002). Living in groups. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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A herd is a social group of certain animals of the same species, either wild or domestic. The form of collective animal behavior associated with this is called . These animals are known as gregarious animals. The term herd is generally applied to mammals, and most particularly to the grazing ungulates that classically display this behaviour.

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generally for protection. As animals in herds can warn other animals of there kind of danger. as theres more eyes to look out for each other. it also helps that other animals can see the preditors. is also nice that others may be eaten instead of you. allowing for you to survive. if your alone well is much easier to eat you then if you where in the pack. Is also possibly to find a mate in these herds. considering tends to also have children. Meaning is likely that the herd have mated before. While also allowing you to mate to pass the gense. Is also nice that you get to eat food without worrying about getting eaten

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When we purchased our first sheep, years ago, we had little knowledge of sheep behavior. Those early days and weeks of getting to know and care for our new flock of sheep were full of mishaps and escapades. If someone had only told us these five things you should know about sheep behavior-our lives would have been much easier. Once you understand these basic facts, it is much easier to work with them.

Sheep Behavior

1. Flocking Instincts - Sheep have a strong flocking instinct. They feel safer when gathered together. Sheep need other sheep to feel safe. Separating one sheep out from the rest of the flock is disturbing and frightening to them.

2. Family Bonds - Sheep will stay in maternal groups for life. I often see family groups grazing and sleeping together in the field. One time, we had separated a set of twins (ram and ewe) at weaning time. They both remained on our farm but in different fields and paddocks. After two years of separation, we put the two siblings back in the same field. The ram immediately walked over to his sister and they stood nose to nose for 30 minutes. Clearly, they knew who each other was and were glad to be back together again.

3. On the Move - Sheep will follow a leader. If you can get one sheep moving, then the rest will most likely follow. Leaders tend to be the most dominant sheep in the flock. Sheep will also follow someone they trust and know. Sheep are hesitant to move towards the dark or into an enclosed area. For instance, if you need to move them into the barn at night, turn on the barn light and they will more easily follow you in.

4. Run! Sheep run when frightened. Quick movements, loud noises, and dogs, will all put sheep on the run. When approaching sheep, it is best to move slowly and talk softly.

5. I see ewe - As a prey animal, sheep rely heavily on their vision. With their eyes set on the sides of their heads, their field of vision is quite broad. They are constantly scanning the field as they graze. Understanding their line of vision allows you to catch a sheep much easier. when needed. When we need to catch a sheep, we will first put them all into a small pen. We approach the sheep from behind, out of their line of vision. This allows us to put an arm around their neck without their realizing it.

6. You got me! Once you have caught a sheep, they will usually relax and give in to you if you have control over their head. By putting a hand under their chin and lifting their nose up a little in the air, they will usually relax. They also totally relax when placed on their bum, off their feet. These are two great positions to put them in when needing to do anything with them such as trimming hooves, giving shots, and shearing.

If starting your first flock of sheep, you may enjoy reading the following:
Tips for Starting Your First Flock of Sheep Dreaming of Your First Flock of Sheep

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Five Things You Should Know About Sheep Behavior

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Those early days and weeks of getting to know and care for our new flock of sheep were full of mishaps and escapades. If someone had only told us these five things you should know about sheep behavior-our lives would have been much easier.

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yea probably just for protection. As animals probably have to be in herds in the first place. Like sure you could survive on your own. But the likelyhood of survival is greatly increased if you stay in a big group. Besides food is pretty easy to find when is on the ground. Giving rise to herds and the social devolopment in animals. As you know. herds are very usful in making sure you survive. Why have to constantly be in the lookout when you got other animals on the lookout for you. While yea is still you know. dangerouse by a bit. Is still much better then being alone. I mean I say the rise of the herd behavoir is obviouse. considering how most herds likely dont have much protection agaisnt preditors. meaning they have start to rely on others to warn other animals. Is also probably nice to just be next to your own kind. You know not constantly looking everywhere that a preditor might jump in. This is of course if you dont have defense cabilities. If you do well a herd of them can be pose a threat towards preiditors. say the horns or the abilitiy to ram. Generally depending on the stength of animals. You could technically become a danger to preditors. with all the possibility towards preditors and such

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animal social behaviour, the suite of interactions that occur between two or more individual animals, usually of the same species, when they form simple aggregations, cooperate in sexual or parental behaviour, engage in disputes over territory and access to mates, or simply communicate across space.

Social behaviour is defined by interaction, not by how organisms are distributed in space. Clumping of individuals is not a requirement for social behaviour, although it does increase opportunities for interaction. When a lone female moth emits a bouquet of pheromones to attract male potential mates, she is engaging in social behaviour. When a male red deer ( Cervus elaphus) gives a loud roar to signal dominance and keep other males away, he is also being social.

Animal social behaviour has piqued the interest of animal behaviorists and evolutionary biologists, and it has also engaged the public, thanks to life science filmmakers who captured the drama and stunning diversity of animal social interactions in documentaries and other media programs.

General characteristics

Social behaviour ranges from simple attraction between individuals to life in complex societies characterized by division of labour, cooperation, altruism, and a great many individuals aiding the reproduction of a relative few. The most widely recognized forms of social behaviour, however, involve interaction within aggregations or groups of individuals. Social behaviours, their adaptive value, and their underlying mechanisms are of primary interest to scientists in the fields of animal behaviour, behavioral ecology, evolutionary psychology, and biological anthropology.

The word social often connotes amicable interaction, accounting for the common misconception that social behaviour always involves cooperation toward some mutually beneficial end. Biologists no longer believe that cooperative behaviours necessarily evolve for the good of the species. Instead, they believe that the unit of natural selection is usually the individual and that social behaviour is fraught with competition. English naturalist Charles Darwin, who first brought evolution by natural selection to the attention of the world, introduced this paradigm for thinking about social behaviour, noting that it is the best competitors within a species, the "fittest" individuals, that survive and reproduce. Once genetics was integrated into this concept of evolution, it became apparent that such individuals will transmit the most copies of their genes to future generations.

Consistent with Darwin's ideas, social organisms are often seen to be fiercely competitive and aggressive. For example, friendly interactions among children on a playground can quickly dissolve into fierce competition if there are too few balls or swings. In addition, intense competitive interactions resulting in bodily harm can occur even among family members. Social behaviour is designed to enhance an individual's ability to garner resources and form the alliances that help it to survive and to reproduce. The modern view of social behaviour is that it is a product of the competing interests of the individuals involved. Individuals evolve the capacity to behave selfishly and to cooperate or compete when it benefits them to do so. A delicate balance of cooperative and competitive behaviours is thus expected to characterize animal societies.

Categorizing the diversity of social behaviour

Social behaviour encompasses a wide variety of interactions, from temporary feeding aggregations or mating swarms to multigenerational family groups with cooperative brood care. Over the years, there have been many attempts to classify the diversity of social interactions and understand the evolutionary progression of social behaviour.

A series of veteran American entomologists-starting in the 1920s with William Morton Wheeler and continuing into the 1970s with Howard Evans, Charles Michener, and E.O. Wilson-developed a categorization of sociality following two routes, called the parasocial sequence and the subsocial sequence. This classification is based primarily on the involvement of insect parents with their young, whereas classifications of vertebrate sociality are frequently based on spacing behaviour or mating system. Both routes culminate in "eusociality," a system in which the young are cared for cooperatively and the society is segregated into different castes that provide different services.

In the parasocial sequence, adults of the same generation assist one another to varying degrees. At one end of the spectrum are females of communal species; these females cooperate in nest construction but rear their broods separately. In quasisocial species, broods are attended cooperatively, and each female may still reproduce. Semisocial species also practice cooperative brood care, but they possess within the colony a worker caste of individuals that never reproduce. Eusocial species typically engage in cooperative brood care; in addition, they have distinct castes that perform different functions and an overlap of generations within the colony.

The subsocial sequence, the alternate route to eusociality, involves increasingly close association between females and their offspring. In primitively subsocial species, the female provides direct care for a time but departs before the young emerge as adults. This stage is followed by two intermediate subsocial stages: one where the care of young is extended to the point where the mother is present when her offspring mature, and the other where offspring are retained that assist in the rearing of additional broods. At the eusocial end of this sequence, some mature offspring are differentiated into a permanently sterile worker caste-a stage that mirrors the same eusocial outcome achieved by the parasocial sequence described above.

E.O. Wilson, whose Sociobiology: The New Synthesis provided a blueprint for research in this field when it was published in 1975, felt that general classifications of societies invariably fail because they depend on the qualities chosen to divide species, which vary markedly from group to group. Instead, Wilson compiled a set of 10 essential qualities of sociality, including (1) group size, (2) distributions of different age and sex classes, (3) cohesiveness, (4) amount and pattern of connectedness, (5) "permeability," or the degree to which societies interact with one another, (6) "compartmentalization," or the extent to which subgroups operate as discrete units, (7) differentiation of roles among group members, (8) integration of behaviours within groups, (9) communication and information flow, and (10) fraction of time devoted to social behaviour as opposed to individual maintenance. These overlapping qualities of societies provide a good indication of the complexities involved with classifying, much less understanding, the highly varied social behaviour of animals.

While categories of social behaviour can be useful, they can also be confusing and misleading. The current tendency is to view sociality as a multifaceted continuum from simple aggregations to the highly organized and complex levels of social organization found in eusocial species. Biologists interested in sociality focus on how cooperation increases an individual's genetic legacy, either by increasing its ability to produce offspring directly or by increasing the number of offspring produced by relatives.

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Animal social behaviour | Definition, Evolution, & Examples

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animal social behaviour, the suite of interactions that occur between two or more individual animals, usually of the same species, when they form simple aggregations, cooperate in sexual or parental behaviour, engage in disputes over territory and access to mates, or simply communicate across space.