Conditioned aversion with lithium chloride of ewes to avoid consumption of olive leaves

Conditioned aversion with Lithium Chloride (LiCl) has shown to be a useful tool for modeling diet in ruminants. In this paper, we studied the LiCl use to control olive trees consumption by ewes. For this purpose, 22 crossbred ewes were exposed to a preconditioning period where they were trained in a specific consumption routine. Once the conditioning period began, fresh olive leaves were given to eat, half were dosed with LiCl aqueous solution (200 mg/kg BW), while the other half were dosed with water. The effect of LiCl was monitored during 6 consecutive days after administration, and every month for 6 months. The LiCl generated a significant decrease consumption of olive leaves. We propose that the conditioned aversion induced by LiCl is a useful tool to control olive trees consumption.