Maternal Influences on Feeding and General Activity in Domestic Chicks

Wauters, Aline-Marie; Richard‐Yris, Marie‐Annick; Talec, Nolwenn

doi:10.1046/j.1439-0310.2002.00793.x

Cited by 35 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Information regarding the maternal diet acquired in ovo may help young precocial birds to identify and consume palatable food in their environment. Normally, precocial chicks benefit from the experience of their mothers to select food items, and preferences are transmitted from mothers to chicks [54]. However, precocial birds also learn by themselves whether food is edible, by pecking at a large range of items during the first days of their lives [55].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternal Diet Influences Offspring Feeding Behavior and Fearfulness in the Precocial Chicken

2013

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BackgroundIn chicken, oils in the maternal diet confer a specific scent to the yolk. Embryos are known to perceive and memorize chemosensory signals of the surrounding environment; however, the potential impact of the maternal diet has not previously been investigated. In the present study, we hypothesized that chicken embryos memorize the chemical signals of the maternal diet and that this perceptual learning may orient subsequent feeding behavior of the hatchlings.Methodology/Principal FindingsLaying hens were fed standard food enriched with 2% menhaden oil (MH group) or 2% soybean oil (controls). The scent of menhaden was significantly more detected in MH egg yolks than in control yolks by a human panel. We analyzed the development and behavior of offspring towards different types of food, bearing or not bearing the menhaden scent. When chicks were exposed to a 3-min choice test between the familiar food bearing the menhaden scent and the familiar food without menhaden, no effect of treatment was observed. In a 3-min choice test with unfamiliar food (mashed cereals) MH chicks showed a clear positive orientation toward the unfamiliar food bearing the menhaden scent. By contrast, control chicks showed a preference for the non-odorized unfamiliar food. MH chicks expressed higher emotional reactivity level than control chicks as expressed by food neophobia and longer immobility in a restraint test.Conclusion/SignificanceChicks exposed in ovo to menhaden oil via the maternal diet preferentially oriented their feeding behavior towards food containing menhaden oil, but only when the food was unfamiliar. We propose that oil in the maternal diet engenders maternal effects and contributes to the development of behavioral phenotype in the offspring. In ovo chemosensory learning may have evolved to prepare precocial offspring for their environment. This suggests a common principle of embryonic chemosensory learning across vertebrate taxa.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternal Diet Influences Offspring Feeding Behavior and Fearfulness in the Precocial Chicken

2013

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“…Additionally, food calls are sometimes emitted in reply to chick distress calls [ 23 , 38 ]. Individual differences in feeding display also exist [ 37 , 39 ]; hens show strong food preferences [ 40 ], and maternal food calling reflects those preferences; more food calls are emitted in response to a preferred food source [ 37 , 40 ]. The motivational state of the hen also influences food call emissions; hungry hens emit more food calls than satiated hens [ 37 ].…”

Section: The Importance Of Maternal Carementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Taken together, the food calls and pecking movements provide a combination of auditory and visual stimuli that increase arousal in the chicks [ 40 ], providing one of the contexts where social learning has an important role for chicks (for a review see [ 27 ]). However, unlike cluck calls, which immediately attract the chicks, food calls only attract the chicks when they have had prior experience of pecking and swallowing food [ 41 ], suggesting that the value and use of food calls depend upon the chicks’ experience.…”

Section: The Importance Of Maternal Carementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The sonic features of food calls are very helpful for the chicks to learn about the type and quality of food present [ 36 , 37 ]. Chicks peck at a higher and faster rate in response to higher call rate feeding displays [ 35 , 36 , 40 ]. Workman & Andrews [ 3 ] suggest that hens provide most of their information about food palatability before the chicks are eight days old.…”

Section: The Importance Of Maternal Carementioning

confidence: 99%

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Influences of Maternal Care on Chicken Welfare

Edgar

Held

Jones

et al. 2016

Animals

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Simple SummaryFor a domestic chick, the mother hen is an important role model; chicks learn a great deal from their mother about what to peck, when to rest and how to behave when there is a threat. However, in large farms, natural brooding is not commercially viable and so chicks are hatched in large incubators and reared artificially. Chicks reared without a mother in this way are more fearful and more likely to develop behavioural problems, such as feather pecking. We discuss the important features of maternal care in chickens, the behavioural consequences of deprivation, and the welfare implications on commercial farms. We finish by suggesting ways to simulate natural maternal care to improve commercial chick rearing practice.AbstractIn domestic chickens, the provision of maternal care strongly influences the behavioural development of chicks. Mother hens play an important role in directing their chicks’ behaviour and are able to buffer their chicks’ response to stressors. Chicks imprint upon their mother, who is key in directing the chicks’ behaviour and in allowing them to develop food preferences. Chicks reared by a mother hen are less fearful and show higher levels of behavioural synchronisation than chicks reared artificially. In a commercial setting, more fearful chicks with unsynchronised behaviour are more likely to develop behavioural problems, such as feather pecking. As well as being an inherent welfare problem, fear can also lead to panic responses, smothering, and fractured bones. Despite the beneficial effects of brooding, it is not commercially viable to allow natural brooding on farms and so chicks are hatched in large incubators and reared artificially, without a mother hen. In this review we cover the literature demonstrating the important features of maternal care in domestic chickens, the behavioural consequences of deprivation and the welfare implications on commercial farms. We finish by suggesting ways to use research in natural maternal care to improve commercial chick rearing practice.

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“…These senses play an important role in courtship sequences as part of mating rituals (Bilcik and Estevez, 2005;Duncan, 2009). They are also used when giving alarm calls, providing information about social status (Marler et al, 1986;Prescott et al, 2003), and forming the relationship between chicks and adults during social learning (Wauters et al, 2002;Melaku, 2012). Communication within the flock is particularly important when birds have access to an outdoor area, where they are potentially at risk of being attacked by predators.…”

Section: Poultrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Perception of environment in farm animals – A review

Adamczyk

Górecka-Bruzda

Nowicki

et al. 2015

Annals of Animal Science

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Perception of the environment by farm animals is fundamental for expression of behaviour and of their adaptation to different environmental conditions. from a breeding-environmental perspective, perception becomes increasingly important when a production system negatively impacts on animals such that their normal expression of behaviour is compromised. therefore, research on the perceptual abilities of farm animals is of crucial importance to understand the animalenvironment relationship. this review is focused on research related to sensory perception of farm animals. It should be stressed that the world of animal senses is very difficult to explore, we have limited knowledge of the complexity of the animal's ability to perceive and process environmental stimuli.

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Maternal Influences on Feeding and General Activity in Domestic Chicks

Cited by 35 publications

References 24 publications

Maternal Diet Influences Offspring Feeding Behavior and Fearfulness in the Precocial Chicken

Maternal Diet Influences Offspring Feeding Behavior and Fearfulness in the Precocial Chicken

Influences of Maternal Care on Chicken Welfare

Perception of environment in farm animals – A review

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