Dustbathing behavior: Do ectoparasites matter?

Vezzoli, Giuseppe; Mullens, Bradley A.; Mench, Joy A.

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2015.06.001

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 31 publications

(52 reference statements)

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“…Each cage contained a 32 * 32 cm plastic tray (Akro Mils SRO12500A34) that was either empty or filled with 1.2 kg sand (Sakrete Natural Play Sand, Dixon, California), cleaned and refilled daily. The behavioral observations reported in the current study made up part of a larger study looking at the effects of providing sand and AstroTurf substrates for dustbathing in cages on mite infestation levels (Vezzoli et al, 2015a). Since that study showed that mite levels were unaffected by the provision of either of the dustbathing substrates, substrate effects are not further considered in the present paper.…”

Section: Animals and Housingmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…The lighting regime was 16L:8D and the temperature was kept at 21 ± 1 ᵒ C. The experiment began when the hens were 25 weeks of age. It was necessary to experimentally infest all the sixteen hens, because we wanted to investigate how the time course of infestation affected the behaviors of interest in both this study and the larger study (Vezzoli et al, 2015a). Each hen (n = 16) was first determined to be mite-free, and then inoculated with approximately 35 northern fowl mites on her abdomen (for more details of the inoculation procedure see Vezzoli et al, 2015a).…”

Section: Animals and Housingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It was necessary to experimentally infest all the sixteen hens, because we wanted to investigate how the time course of infestation affected the behaviors of interest in both this study and the larger study (Vezzoli et al, 2015a). Each hen (n = 16) was first determined to be mite-free, and then inoculated with approximately 35 northern fowl mites on her abdomen (for more details of the inoculation procedure see Vezzoli et al, 2015a). Mites were collected from a naturally infested flock at the UC Davis Avian Science Facility, which was separate from the facilities used in the current study.…”

Section: Animals and Housingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Northern fowl mites complete their life cycle on the skin of their hosts and these hematophagous ectoparasites can cause up to 6% blood loss per day (DeLoach and DeVaney, 1981). All life stages (from egg to adult, with adults being 0.6 mm in size; Murillo and Mullens, 2017), along with their cast skins and excrement, can be present in the feathers, mainly near the vent (Vezzoli et al, 2015a). Northern fowl mites may live up to several weeks in the environment, increasing the risk of re-infestation (Mullens et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Northern fowl mite infestation affects the nocturnal behavior of laying hens

Jacobs

Vezzoli

Beerda

et al. 2019

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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The northern fowl mite (Ornithonyssus sylviarum) is a key pest for caged laying hens. High infestation levels can lead to anemia, reduced production, and mortality. Although the mites cause skin irritation and thus likely affect resting behavior, the nocturnal behavior of infested chickens has not yet been studied. We investigated the impact of mite infestation on nighttime behavior of 16 beak-trimmed White Leghorn hens. The hens were housed individually in wire cages. They were experimentally inoculated with approximately 35 mites at 25 weeks of age and observed for the behaviors dozing, sleeping, preening and being active. Continuous observations were made from video recordings taken from 22:00 h until 06:00 h for two consecutive nights at pre-infestation week 0 and post-infestation weeks 3, 5 and 7. Mite infestation levels were measured weekly on an 8-point scale (0 (no mites) to 7 (≥10,000 mites per hen)). For statistical analyses with linear mixed models, mite infestation levels were categorized as score 0 (no mites), 3-4 (51-500), 5 (501-1000) and 6-7 (> 1000). Higher levels of mite infestation were associated with hens spending less time dozing (P < 0.001) and more time preening (P < 0.001) and being active (P = 0.012). Dozing decreased from 90% of the observed time for mite score 0 to 76% for score 6-7. Preening increased from 2% (score 0) to 9% (6-7) and time spent being active increased from 1% (0) to 7% (6-7). Mite infestation increased the number of uninterrupted bouts of all behaviors (P ≤ 0.020), especially dozing and preening (P < 0.001), suggesting restlessness in the mite-infested hens due to irritation and itching. The mite-infested hens' increased nocturnal activity, including preening, as well as the fragmentation of behavioral activities together with decreased dozing, indicate disturbed resting behavior and suggest a reduction in the welfare of mite-infested hens.

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Section: Animals and Housingmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Animals and Housingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Animals and Housingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Northern fowl mite infestation affects the nocturnal behavior of laying hens

Jacobs

Vezzoli

Beerda

et al. 2019

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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“…Dusting with kaolin led to dramatic reductions in lice, but dusting with sand or litter had little effect. Similarly, dusting with sand has no effect on ectoparasitic mites [56].…”

Section: (E) Dustingmentioning

confidence: 97%

Anti-parasite behaviour of birds

Bush

Clayton

2018

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Birds have many kinds of internal and external parasites, including viruses, bacteria and fungi, as well as protozoa, helminths and arthropods. Because parasites have negative effects on host fitness, selection favours the evolution of anti-parasite defences, many of which involve behaviour. We provide a brief review of anti-parasite behaviours in birds, divided into five major categories: (i) body maintenance, (ii) nest maintenance, (iii) avoidance of parasitized prey, (iv) migration and (v) tolerance. We evaluate the adaptive significance of the different behaviours and note cases in which additional research is particularly needed. We briefly consider the interaction of different behaviours, such as sunning and preening, and how behavioural defences may interact with other forms of defence, such as immune responses. We conclude by suggesting some general questions that need to be addressed concerning the nature of anti-parasite behaviour in birds.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Evolution of pathogen and parasite avoidance behaviours'.

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External Features of Chicken

Khamas,

Rutllant

2024

Anatomy and Histology of the Domestic Chicken

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Dustbathing behavior: Do ectoparasites matter?

Cited by 12 publications

References 31 publications

Northern fowl mite infestation affects the nocturnal behavior of laying hens

Northern fowl mite infestation affects the nocturnal behavior of laying hens

Anti-parasite behaviour of birds

External Features of Chicken

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