Effects of Exposure to Chicks on Maternal Behaviour in Domestic Chickens

Richard‐Yris, Marie‐Annick; Leboucher, Gérard

doi:10.3727/015613887791918150

Cited by 18 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 8 publications

(9 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Research investigating the factors underlying this decline in maternal care has mostly focused on changes in the sensory cues from the continuously developing offspring and concludes that cues from older pups are unable to evoke strong maternal responses from the mothers. In support, early research on laboratory rats showed that the decline in mothering across lactation could be prevented if older litters are replaced with younger litters (Reisbick et al, 1975; Rosenblatt, 1969), and a similar phenomenon has been reported for brooding behavior in hens (Richard-Yris and Leboucher, 1987). This is partly due to the fact that younger pups are especially rewarding to mother rats (Wansaw et al, 2008), and even maternally inexperienced nulliparous rats are more likely to approach and act maternally to younger pups than older pups (Stern and Mackinnon, 1978).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 59%

Interaction between postpartum stage and litter age on maternal caregiving and medial preoptic area orexin

Grieb

Holschbach

Lonstein

2018

Physiology & Behavior

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Most maternal caregiving behaviors change across lactation to match the developmental needs of the continuously aging offspring. However, it is mostly unknown whether the dams' postpartum stage or litter age is the primary driving force of these changes. In this study, postnatal day 1 and 8 litters were cross-fostered or in-fostered to postpartum day 1 or 8 dams. Five days later, undisturbed observations of maternal caregiving behaviors were performed on the subsequent two days. We found a main effect of dams' postpartum stage on the frequency that mothers spent with the pups and displayed erect postures over them (hovering over and kyphosis), although it was mostly driven by an interaction between postpartum stage and litter age: early-postpartum dams were in contact with younger litters and in erect postures more often with younger litters compared to later-postpartum dams with younger litters. Additionally, there was an interaction between postpartum stage and litter age on the litter weights because older litters living with later-postpartum dams were heavier than older litters living with early-postpartum dams. There was also an interaction between postpartum stage and litter age on the dams' bodyweight, with early-postpartum dams living with younger litters weighing the least and later-postpartum dams living with younger litters weighing the most. Because activity of the neuropeptide, orexin, within the medial preoptic area (mPOA) has been implicated in maternal nursing and other caregiving behaviors, we measured mPOA levels of orexin-A but it was not affected by postpartum stage or litter age (nor was there an interaction). However, high orexin-A was negatively associated with the frequency of contact with pups and the display of erect postures. These results indicate that changes in caregiving across lactation are driven by endogenous factors in the dams, age-related cues they receive from offspring, and interactions between these factors.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 59%

Interaction between postpartum stage and litter age on maternal caregiving and medial preoptic area orexin

Grieb

Holschbach

Lonstein

2018

Physiology & Behavior

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Similar phenomena have long been reported in vertebrates ( van Iersel 1953; Noirot & Richards 1966; Poindron et al . 1980 ; Richard‐Yris & Leboucher 1987). This has also been documented in some insect species ( Vancassel et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agonistic behaviour of female Tegenaria atrica in the presence of different aged spiderlings

Pourié

Trabalon

1999

Physiological Entomology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary The agonistic behaviour of adult female T. atrica increases with increasing age of spiderlings until 80 days post‐emergence, then decreases. In all cases, cannibalism of spiderlings increases markedly after completion of their pre‐dispersal period with a correlation between the switch of behaviour, from tolerance to cannibalism, and a modification of individual’s cuticular compounds. Experiments that compare spiderlings weight and mobility indicate that female agonistic behaviour are always low with spiderlings in pre‐dispersal period, and high with spiderlings in post‐dispersal period. Female reproductive state and the weight/mobility of spiderlings are not the only factors controlling the adult female’s agonistic behaviour towards spiderlings on her web, as tactochemical information plays an important role in modulating agonistic behaviour after close contact between female spiders and spiderlings. The agonistic behaviour of females appears to correspond with a change in the increase of polar compound levels (methylesters and fatty acids) and the decrease of apolar compound levels (hydrocarbons) in spiderlings of different ages.

show abstract

“…We also found that HSR females emitted fewer cooing calls after reunion with their chicks compared to LSR females. These cooing calls have been reported to calm the chicks after the stress induced by separation of the mother and are a good indicator of a strong mother‐young attachment in hens. Therefore, the decreased vocal response observed in HSR females could indicate a loser bond with their chicks compared to LSR mothers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…These cooing calls have been reported to calm the chicks after the stress induced by separation of the mother 43 and are a good indicator of a strong mother-young attachment in hens 28 . Therefore, the In addition, both HSR and LSR females showed little aggression towards chicks.…”

Section: Maternal Behaviour In Lsr and Hsr Femalesmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Three hatchlings (one from each weight set) were placed underneath each experimental female. Tactile and vocal stimulations from chicks quickly induced parental response from females. The next morning, the nestbox was opened and females were characterised as maternal if they expressed young warming and food offering and maternal calls (cooing and food calls), as described previously.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

High social motivation induces deficits in maternal behaviour but not plasticity of the subventricular zone in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)

Lumineau¹,

Pawluski

Charlier

et al. 2019

J Neuroendocrinology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Maternal behaviour develops differently depending on the characteristics of an individual, such as age or emotional reactivity. Social motivation, defined as the propensity to establish social contact, has received little attention in relation to maternal behaviour in birds. In addition, the transition to motherhood is a time of plasticity in the brain of the new mother in mammals. However, it remains to be determined how maternal brain plasticity is affected in avian species. The present study investigated how a the social motivation of a mother alters maternal behaviour and brain plasticity of the Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica). Adult females from lines selected for high and low social motivation were exposed to chicks for 11 days. After maternal care testing, and at matched time points in controls, the brains of females were perfused for assessment of doublecortin‐immunoreactive staining, a marker of neurogenesis, in the subventricular zone (SVZ), a neurogenic niche. The results obtained showed that high socially motivated female quail spent significantly less time performing maternal behaviour when exposed to chicks compared to low socially motivated females. Moreover, the warming of chicks by high socially motivated females involved less covering postures and mothers were more rejecting of chicks. Interestingly, the plasticity indicators in the SVZ did not differ between low and high socially motivated females and were not associated with differences in maternal caregiving when using doublecortin‐immunoreactive staining. Thus, high social motivation in this avian species does not favour maternal behaviour and this level of motivation to the mother is not related to changes in neuroplasticity in the SVZ of the female quail.

show abstract

Effects of Exposure to Chicks on Maternal Behaviour in Domestic Chickens

Cited by 18 publications

References 8 publications

Interaction between postpartum stage and litter age on maternal caregiving and medial preoptic area orexin

Interaction between postpartum stage and litter age on maternal caregiving and medial preoptic area orexin

Agonistic behaviour of female Tegenaria atrica in the presence of different aged spiderlings

High social motivation induces deficits in maternal behaviour but not plasticity of the subventricular zone in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About