Mutual influence of the maternal hen's food calling and feeding behavior on the behavior of her chicks

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

doi:10.1002/dev.10042

Cited by 30 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…These data and our results suggest that the quality of the prenatal environment probably influence growth and the metabolism of animals. Precocial birds commonly learn from their parents which food to eat [74] but they also taste and eat by themselves different food items few hours after hatching. According to the quality of their prenatal environment, young animals might thus orient spontaneously their pecking toward less or more energetic food that could be advantageous in a warm environment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moderate Heat Challenge Increased Yolk Steroid Hormones and Shaped Offspring Growth and Behavior in Chickens

Bertin

Chanson

Delaveau³

et al. 2013

PLoS ONE

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BackgroundEnvironmental challenges might affect the maternal organism and indirectly affect the later ontogeny of the progeny. We investigated the cross-generation impact of a moderate heat challenge in chickens. We hypothesized that a warm temperature–within the thermotolerance range- would affect the hormonal environment provided to embryos by mothers, and in turn, affect the morphology and behavioral phenotype of offspring.Methodology/Principal FindingsLaying hens were raised under a standard thermal condition at 21°C (controls) or 30°C (experimental) for 5 consecutive weeks. A significant increase was observed in the internal temperature of hens exposed to the warm treatment; however plasma corticosterone levels remained unaffected. The laying rate was not affected, but experimental hens laid lighter eggs than the controls during the treatment. As expected, the maternal thermal environment affected yolk hormone contents. Eggs laid by the experimental hens showed significantly higher concentrations of yolk progesterone, testosterone, and estradiol. All chicks were raised under standard thermal conditions. The quality of hatchlings, growth, feeding behavior and emotional reactivity of chicks were analyzed. Offspring of experimental hens (C30 chicks) were lighter but obtained better morphological quality scores at hatching than the controls (C21 chicks). C30 chicks expressed lesser distress calls when exposed to a novel food. Unlike C21 chicks, C30 chicks expressed no preference for energetic food.Conclusion/SignificanceOur findings suggest that moderate heat challenge triggers maternal effects and modulate the developmental trajectory of offspring in a way that may be adaptive. This suggests that the impact of heat challenges on captive or wild populations might have a cross-generation effect.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moderate Heat Challenge Increased Yolk Steroid Hormones and Shaped Offspring Growth and Behavior in Chickens

Bertin

Chanson

Delaveau³

et al. 2013

PLoS ONE

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“…Indeed, although tactile contacts occur between mother and offspring during warming phases, precocial chicks could also receive many visual and vocal stimulations at an early age. Young birds can learn food preferences [38], maternal behaviour [39] or social behaviour [40] from their mother. So, social learning processes could also be involved in a non-genetic maternal influence mechanism.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of Fearfulness in Birds: Genetic Factors Modulate Non-Genetic Maternal Influences

et al. 2011

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The development of fearfulness and the capacity of animals to cope with stressful events are particularly sensitive to early experience with mothers in a wide range of species. However, intrinsic characteristics of young animals can modulate maternal influence. This study evaluated the effect of intrinsic fearfulness on non-genetic maternal influence. Quail chicks, divergently selected for either higher (LTI) or lower fearfulness (STI) and from a control line (C), were cross-fostered by LTI or STI mothers. Behavioural tests estimated the chicks' emotional profiles after separation from the mother. Whatever their genotype, the fearfulness of chicks adopted by LTI mothers was higher than that of chicks adopted by STI mothers. However, genetic background affected the strength of maternal effects: the least emotional chicks (STI) were the least affected by early experience with mothers. We demonstrated that young animal's intrinsic fearfulness affects strongly their sensitivity to non-genetic maternal influences. A young animal's behavioural characteristics play a fundamental role in its own behavioural development processes.

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“…Altricial bird caregivers can make asymmetrical efforts related to offspring sex, particularly when providing food (Ridley and Huyvaert, 2007;Nam et al, 2011). Comparatively, the role of mothers of chicks of highly precocial terrestrial species like Japanese quail, that forage on their own, is limited to the transmission of food selectivity (Wauters and Richard-Yris, 2002;Clarke, 2010). Nevertheless, other maternal care behaviors could be expressed asymmetrically toward males and females.…”

Section: Influence Of Mothers On the Emergence Of Sex Differencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Precocial bird mothers shape sex differences in the behavior of their chicks

2014

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Compared to mammals and altricial birds, evaluations of differences related to precocial birds' sex have often been limited to sexual behavior. Nevertheless, the extensive use of precocial bird models for investigating behavioral development issues requires in depth knowledge concerning the emergence of sex differences. Here, we evaluated behavioral differences between Japanese quail chicks in relation to their sex. We know that maternal influences are strong and early social environment shapes behavioral development in this species. Therefore, we investigated the emergence of sex differences in two very different early social situations to evaluate the impact of precocial bird mothers on sex differences. We assessed behavioral differences related to sex of (1) non-brooded chicks and of (2) brooded chicks, using various ethological tests to evaluate emotional reactivity and social motivation differences related to sex. Our results show that both non-brooded and brooded chicks present behavioral differences related to sex. They differed greatly according to chicks' early experience. Sex-related differences between maternally deprived (non-brooded) chicks concerned mainly fearfulness, whereas differences between male and female brooded chicks concerned mainly their reactions to social isolation. We hypothesize that mothers attenuate sex differences related to fearfulness by being a model for responses to fear-eliciting situations and by providing a similar secure basis to both males and females. We finally propose that mothers induce differences in chicks' sociality by providing asymmetrical care toward males and females.

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Mutual influence of the maternal hen's food calling and feeding behavior on the behavior of her chicks

Cited by 30 publications

References 33 publications

Moderate Heat Challenge Increased Yolk Steroid Hormones and Shaped Offspring Growth and Behavior in Chickens

Moderate Heat Challenge Increased Yolk Steroid Hormones and Shaped Offspring Growth and Behavior in Chickens

Development of Fearfulness in Birds: Genetic Factors Modulate Non-Genetic Maternal Influences

Precocial bird mothers shape sex differences in the behavior of their chicks

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