Adrenocortical reactivity and central serotonin and dopamine turnover in young chicks from a high and low feather-pecking line of laying hens

Hierden, Y.M. van; Korte, S. Mechiel; Ruesink, E.W.; Reenen, C.G. van; Engel, B.; Korte-Bouws, G.A.H.; Koolhaas, Jaap M.; Blokhuis, H.J.

doi:10.1016/s0031-9384(02)00667-4

Cited by 110 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Release of ACTH from the pituitary and glucocorticosteroids from the adrenal cortex is strongly and acutely stimulated by 5-HT via action mediated by 5-HT 1A receptors in the hypothalamus (Fuller, 1992). An increase of corticosterone levels in the LFP, but not in the HFP line, is in agreement with previous findings of a higher adrenocortical (re)activity in the LFP line (Korte et al, 1997;van Hierden et al, 2002).…”

Section: Effect Of Trp Supplementation On Physiological and Neurobiolsupporting

confidence: 93%

Chronic increase of dietary l-tryptophan decreases gentle feather pecking behaviour

Hierden

Koolhaas

Korte

2004

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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Many studies show the involvement of the serotonergic (5-HT) system in the performance of abnormal behaviour in both human and animals. Recently, we showed that acute reduction of 5-HT turnover in the forebrain, increased gentle and severe feather pecking behaviour in chicks from a high (HFP) and low feather pecking (LFP) line of laying hens, suggesting that the performance of feather pecking behaviour involves low 5-HT neurotransmission.In the present study, we postulated that if low 5-HT is causally underlying feather pecking, increasing 5-HT turnover in the forebrain will decrease the development and performance of feather pecking. Augmentation of 5-HT neurotransmission in the brain was induced by chronically increasing dietary levels of the essential amino acid l-tryptophan (TRP) from which 5-HT is synthesised. From the age of 34 days, LFP and HFP chicks were fed a diet containing 2% TRP, whereas control birds of both lines were continuously fed with the normal rearing feed (0.16% TRP). From 35 days of age, litter was removed from the pens (10 pens/line-treatment) and all chicks (10 chicks/pen) were housed on a slatted floor until the end of the experiment. At 49 days of age, feather pecking behaviour was studied for 30 min. At 50 days of age baseline corticosterone, TRP and other large amino acids (LNAAs) were measured in the blood plasma of decapitated chicks (10 chicks per line-treatment). Furthermore, plasma corticosterone and central 5-HT turnover levels in response to manual restraint (5 min) were determined (10 chicks/line-treatment).For neither gentle nor severe feather pecking a significant line × treatment interaction was found. However, TRP treatment resulted in a significant [P = 0.02] overall decrease of the frequency of gentle feather pecking. For severe feather pecking a similar but not significant pattern was found. Significant line effects were found for gentle and severe feather pecking. HFP birds showed significantly higher levels of gentle and severe feather pecking behaviour than LFP birds [P < 0.001]. TRP treatment significantly increased the TRP/LNAA ratio in the plasma of the chicks. Furthermore, TRP treatment overall increased baseline and stress-induced levels of plasma corticosterone (although * Corresponding author. Tel.: +31-320-238171; fax: +31-320-239094. van Hierden et al. / Applied Animal Behaviour Science 89 (2004) [71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84] more pronounced in the LFP line). TRP supplementation significantly increased 5-HT turnover in the hippocampus and archistriatum and tended to do so in the remainder of the forebrain.The results confirm our hypothesis that feather pecking behaviour is triggered by low serotonergic neurotransmission, as increasing serotonergic tone, by increasing dietary TRP, decreases gentle feather pecking behaviour.

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Section: Effect Of Trp Supplementation On Physiological and Neurobiolsupporting

confidence: 93%

Chronic increase of dietary l-tryptophan decreases gentle feather pecking behaviour

Hierden

Koolhaas

Korte

2004

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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“…On the other side K orte et al (1997) compared levels of corticosterone in adult hens from the HFP and LFP lines and found higher levels of corticosterone in LFP hens than in HFP hens during both resting and manual restraint. Van Hierden et al (2002b) obtained the same results with chicks from the same lines at the age of 14 and 28 days.…”

Section: Housing Systemsupporting

confidence: 70%

Feather Pecking in Laying Hens: Environmental and Endogenous Factors

Sedlačková¹,

Bilčı́k²,

Košťál³

2004

Acta Vet. Brno

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Sedlaãková M., Bilãík B., Ko‰Èál, ª.: Feather Pecking in Laying Hens: Environmental and Endogenous Factors. Acta Vet. Brno 2004, 73: 521-531.Feather pecking, pecking directed to and damaging the feathers of other birds, is a behavioural disorder occurring in laying hens and other poultry species and breeds. Feather pecking is both a welfare and economic problem. Pulling out feathers causes pain, a higher risk of injuries and can trigger an outbreak of cannibalism. Extensive loss of feather cover is accompanied by increased heat loss that results in increased food consumption. The 1999 EU Directive laying down minimum standards for the protection of laying hens approved banning of conventional battery cages from 2012. Thus in the next few years major changes to the housing of laying hens in Europe will occur. Therefore there is an urgent need to develop feasible alternative housing systems. An increased risk of feather pecking is a main obstruction to the wide adoption of alternative housing systems, such as free range, aviaries or percheries. There is a continuous effort of many research teams in Europe and elsewhere to expand our knowledge of this behavioural disturbance and maximize the chances to solve the problem. In this review we have attempted to summarise the present status of knowledge about feather pecking. Hypotheses on causation (redirected ground pecking or dustbathing), environmental factors (feeding, lighting, housing, group size, density) and endogenous factors (sex, age, genetic factors, physiological control mechanisms) are discussed and possible ways of prevention via changing environment, management practices or genetic selection are pointed out. Chicken, feather pecking, abnormal behaviour, cannibalism, housing systems

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“…Substantial scientific evidence of the role of the serotonergic system in the development and modulation of feather pecking behaviour in laying hens has accrued over the last years (van Hierden et al 2002(van Hierden et al , 2004aBolhuis et al 2009). These studies related the occurrence of feather pecking with serotonin concentration and activity either in the brain or peripherally (circulatory system or peripheral nervous system), predominantly suggesting that lower levels of serotonin are associated with predisposition to perform feather pecking (van Hierden et al 2004a, b;Bolhuis et al 2009).…”

Section: Serotoninmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most of the evidence point at the redirected ground pecking theory (Huber-Eicher and Wechsler 1997), with active or even hyperactive birds having the highest risk of developing FP (Newberry et al 2007;Kjaer 2009). The serotonergic system has been shown to play an important role in the modulation of FP (van Hierden et al 2002(van Hierden et al , 2004a Edited by Stephen Clark Maxson.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Across-Line SNP Association Study for Direct and Associative Effects on Feather Damage in Laying Hens

et al. 2010

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An association study between SNP markers and feather condition score on the back, rump and belly of laying hens was performed. Feather condition score is a measure of feather damage, which has been shown to be closely related to feather pecking behaviour in hens housed in groups. A population of 662 hens was genotyped for 1536 SNPs of which 1022 could be used for the association study. The analysis was conducted across 9 different lines of White Leghorn and Rhode Island Red origin. Across lines linkage disequilibrium is conserved at shorter distances than within lines; therefore, SNPs significantly associated with feather condition score across lines are expected to be closer to the functional mutations. The SNPs that had a significant across-line effect but did not show significant SNP-by-line interaction were identified, to test that the association was consistent across lines. Both the direct effect of the individual's genotype on its plumage condition, and the associative effect of the genotype of the cage mates on the individual's plumage condition were analysed. The direct genetic effect can be considered as the susceptibility to be pecked at, whereas the associative genetic effect can be interpreted as the propensity to perform feather pecking. Finally, 11 significant associations between SNPs and behavioural traits were detected in the direct model, and 81 in the associative model. A role of the gene for the serotonin receptor 2C (HTR2C) on chromosome 4 was found. This supports existing evidence of a prominent involvement of the serotonergic system in the modulation of this behavioural disorder in laying hens. The genes for IL9, IL4, CCL4 and NFKB were found to be associated to plumage condition, revealing relationships between the immune system and behaviour.

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Adrenocortical reactivity and central serotonin and dopamine turnover in young chicks from a high and low feather-pecking line of laying hens

Cited by 110 publications

References 34 publications

Chronic increase of dietary l-tryptophan decreases gentle feather pecking behaviour

Chronic increase of dietary l-tryptophan decreases gentle feather pecking behaviour

Feather Pecking in Laying Hens: Environmental and Endogenous Factors

Across-Line SNP Association Study for Direct and Associative Effects on Feather Damage in Laying Hens

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