Fearfulness in red junglefowl and domesticated White Leghorn chickens

Campler, Magnus R.; Jöngren, Markus; Jensen, Per

doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2008.12.018

Cited by 117 publications

(114 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…In chickens, few similar studies on recovery from acute stressors have been performed, but one study on broilers observed similar sustained effects of restraint [32]. RJF has previously been shown to have stronger general fear reactions compared to WL [13], and WL has a less active response during restraint as well as a less severe response to a predator model [15]. These results are in line with the present study.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…However, in previous studies, we have seen that breed differences in fear and stress reactions are not changed by housing the breeds together [13,15].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

“…In the present study, we compare stress recovery patterns between the Red Junglefowl (RJF), which is the main ancestor of all domestic chicken breeds [11,12] and a domesticated egg-laying strain, the White Leghorn (WL). RJF is known to show more fearful behaviour in a range of test situations [13], and several behaviour differences have also been described in foraging strategies and exploration patterns [14][15][16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Domestication effects on behavioural and hormonal responses to acute stress in chickens

Ericsson

Fallahsharoudi

Bergquist

et al. 2014

Physiology & Behavior

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Comparative studies have shown that alterations in physiology, morphology and behaviour have arisen due to the domestication. A driving factor behind many of the changes could be a shift in stress responses, with modified endocrine and behavioural profiles. In the present study we compared two breeds of chicken (Gallus gallus), the domestic White Leghorn (WL) egg laying breed and its ancestor, the Red Junglefowl (RJF). Birds were exposed to an acute stress event, invoked by three or ten minutes of physical restraint. They were then continuously monitored for the effects on a wide range of behaviours during a 60 min recovery phase. Blood samples were collected from the chicken at baseline, and after 10 and 60 min following a similar restraint stress, and the samples were analyzed for nine endogenous steroids of the HPA and HPG axis. Concentration of the steroids was determined using validated liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry methods. In RJF, an immediate behavioural response was observed after release from restraint in several behaviours, with a relatively fast return to baseline within one hour. In WL, some behaviours were affected for a longer period of time, and others not at all. Concentrations of corticosterone increased more in RJF, but returned faster to baseline compared to WL. A range of baseline levels for HPG-related steroids differed between the breeds, and they were generally more affected by the stress in WL than in RJF. In conclusion, RJF reacted stronger both behaviourally and physiologically to the restraint stress, but also recovered faster. This would appear to be adaptive under natural conditions, whereas the stress recovery of domesticated birds has been altered by domestication and breeding for increased reproductive output.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…However, in previous studies, we have seen that breed differences in fear and stress reactions are not changed by housing the breeds together [13,15].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Domestication effects on behavioural and hormonal responses to acute stress in chickens

Ericsson

Fallahsharoudi

Bergquist

et al. 2014

Physiology & Behavior

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“…Standing alert facilitates a number of functions; it might allow hens to pay attention to stimuli such as conspecifics, predators or potential food sources. In domestic chickens, time spent standing alert is associated with higher levels of fear in response to novel object, open field and predator tests [21]. Lower levels of preening have been observed in negatively valenced situations such as behaviourally restrictive housing [22,23].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Avian maternal response to chick distress

et al. 2011

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The extent to which an animal is affected by the pain or distress of a conspecific will depend on its capacity for empathy. Empathy most probably evolved to facilitate parental care, so the current study assessed whether birds responded to an aversive stimulus directed at their chicks. Domestic hens were exposed to two replicates of the following conditions in a counterbalanced order: control (C; hen and chicks undisturbed), air puff to chicks (APC; air puff directed at chicks at 30 s intervals), air puff to hen (APH; air puff directed at hen at 30 s intervals) and control with noise (CN; noise of air puff at 30 s intervals). During each test, the hens' behaviour and physiology were measured throughout a 10 min pre-treatment and a 10 min treatment period. Hens responded to APH and APC treatments with increased alertness, decreased preening behaviour and a reduction in eye temperature. No such changes occurred during any control period. Increased heart rate and maternal vocalization occurred exclusively during the APC treatment, even though chicks produced few distress vocalizations. The pronounced and specific reaction observed indicates that adult female birds possess at least one of the essential underpinning attributes of empathy.

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“…Therefore, aiming at supplying a consumer market for exotic meats, this species could be reared under similar commercial conditions as broilers. However, this requires investigating the behavior of the red-winged tinamou in order to find individuals that are calmer and more adaptable to captivity because, studies about evolution of domestic animals indicate that reduced fearfulness is critical to the adaptation of species to the stressful rearing conditions imposed by humans (Campler et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic and Environmental Effects on Tonic Immobility Duration of Red-Winged Tinamou Applying Survival Analysis

Hata

Caetano

Boleli

et al. 2018

Braz. J. Poult. Sci.

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Fear behavioral studies provide knowledge on animal welfare, and fearful behaviors can be used as selection criteria of individuals adapted to intensive rearing system. The survival analysis methodology was applied to estimate tonic immobility (TI) duration, as an indicator of fear, of red-winged tinamous (Rhynchotus rufescens) reared in captivity and to determine if TI is genetically influenced. A number of 539 birds born between 2006 and 2010 were evaluated. The exploratory data analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier estimate (KM), and the covariates were then fit to a Cox model, considering month of observation nested within year of birth and body weight as fixed effects and the random effect of sire as frailty term. In order to predict genetic values and to estimate heritability, the model of proportional hazards was applied, using a Weibull distribution as the baseline hazard. Birds born in the last year presented shorter TI duration than those born in the previous year, as shown by the survival KM curves, indicating a decline in fearfulness from one year to the next. The Cox analysis detected that hazard function was reduced as body weight increased. The frailty term was significant (p<0.05), showing that sires induced variation in the TI duration of the offspring. Heritability estimated as 0.37, indicating the influence of additive genes. These findings suggest that the selection of for short TI duration may allow reducing fearfulness of a red-winged tinamou population after some generations.

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Fearfulness in red junglefowl and domesticated White Leghorn chickens

Cited by 117 publications

References 20 publications

Domestication effects on behavioural and hormonal responses to acute stress in chickens

Domestication effects on behavioural and hormonal responses to acute stress in chickens

Avian maternal response to chick distress

Genetic and Environmental Effects on Tonic Immobility Duration of Red-Winged Tinamou Applying Survival Analysis

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