Higher heritabilities for gait components than for overall gait scores may improve mobility in ducks

Duggan, Brendan M.; Rae, Anne M.; Clements, Dylan; Hocking, Paul

doi:10.1186/s12711-017-0317-2

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(29 reference statements)

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“…Selective practices have attempted to breed turkeys that minimally waddle, but this movement may be necessary to sustain a stable gait. Others have suggested improvements to gait scoring by focusing on characteristics of a balanced gait and even applying camera monitoring with image analysis of lateral oscillations, which we also support to improve gait heritability (Aydin, 2017;Duggan et al, 2016Duggan et al, , 2017. The domestic turkeys displayed a consistent pattern of kinematic and kinetic gait parameter relationships with A B ‡ ‡ Fig.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

“…speed. Deviations from these established relationships in turkeys may be a more repeatable assessment of potential gait abnormalities than gait score, as originally suggested in ducks (Duggan et al, 2017). Future studies should address the skeletal stresses experienced during walking across ontogeny to determine the effect that a shuffling gait has on the domestic turkeys' joints and development.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

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Waddle and shuffle: Gait alterations associated with domestication in turkeys

Stover

Brainerd

Roberts

2018

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Domestication has altered turkey morphology by artificially selecting for increased muscle mass and breast meat. Artificial selection has resulted in birds that weigh up to 3 times more than their wild counterparts, with relatively little change in the length of their bones and limbs. Considering these structural changes, it seems probable that domestic turkey locomotor kinematics and kinetics would also be altered. To examine the locomotor dynamics of wild and domestic turkeys, we had both strains walk down a runway with a force plate at the center to measure their ground reaction forces and gait parameters. The location of their center of mass was also quantified using a force plate and bi-planar x-ray and found to be further anterior in the domestic strain. The domestic turkeys locomoted across a lower range of speeds (0.25-1.64 ms) than the wild turkeys (0.26-3.26 ms) and increased their stride frequency at a higher rate. They also displayed large lateral oscillations, i.e. waddling, during walking that translated into relatively high medio-lateral ground reaction forces and lateral kinetic energy (3.5 times higher than that of wild turkeys). The results indicate that domestic turkey locomotion is not simply a slowed down version of wild turkey locomotion. The changes in gait observed are similar to the shuffling gait present in some human populations, such as Parkinson's patients, which serves to increase stability. The domestic turkey's increased body mass and more anterior center of mass position may require these kinematic and kinetic gait differences.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Waddle and shuffle: Gait alterations associated with domestication in turkeys

Stover

Brainerd

Roberts

2018

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…This outcome likely results from the rapid growth and the resulting reduced locomotor activity of these chickens. At the end of the rearing period, their balance is impaired, which is caused by the high mass of breast muscle that leads to a cranial shift of the body center (11). To facilitate access to the elevated grids, we included a ramp that was most often used in particular by the fast-growing chickens (personal observation).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to the behavioral restrictions in barren environments, skeletal disorders, and contact dermatitis (10) are common welfare problems in broiler chickens. High growth rate and the associated muscle growth, including that of large breast muscles, lead to cranial shifts in body balance (11) and skeletal disorders (12). Often, fast-growing chickens show impaired walking ability (13), and increased time of rest (e.g., sit/lie) in the litter (10).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Elevated Grids on Growing Male Chickens Differing in Growth Performance

et al. 2019

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Pullets, i. e., chickens of layer lines are often raised in housings equipped with perches. In contrast, broiler chickens most often are raised in a barren environment that lacks any three-dimensional structures, even though broilers also are motivated to use elevated structures. In addition, environmental enrichment may improve welfare problems in broiler chickens, such as skeletal disorders or contact dermatitis. Due to ethical reasons, currently there are attempts to fatten the male chickens of layer strains or to use dual purpose strains. However, there is only limited knowledge on the behavior of these chickens until now. The aim of this study was to test the use of elevated grids and their effect on animal-based indicators (e.g., physical condition). In two successive trials, we kept a total of 1,217 male chickens from three strains (Lohmann Dual, Lohmann Brown Plus, Ross 308) that show differences in growth performance in 24 pens (two trials × three strains × eight pens). In half of the pens, grids were offered at three different heights (enriched groups); in the other half of the pens, no elevated structures were installed (control groups). We recorded the number of birds using the grids at the different heights as well as locomotor activity, walking ability, plumage cleanliness, and the footpad health of chickens. Chickens with low and medium growth performance preferred the highest grids during both the light and dark periods. In contrast, fast-growing chickens used the lowest grid more frequently. Fast-growing chickens kept in the enriched pens tended to have a higher level of locomotor activity and reduced chest cleanliness. Chickens from the medium growth performance strain showed better walking ability when kept in the enriched pens. Enrichment did not affect any of the welfare measures in the slow-growing chickens. These findings suggest that elevated structures may improve chicken welfare, particularly for medium growing chickens. For fast-growing chickens we found evidence for an improvement of animal-based indicators although they used the elevated structures less. However, regardless of growth performance, elevated grids offer the birds an opportunity to rest in a species-specific manner.

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“…Additional research on how these morphological alterations have affected the domestic turkey's hind limb posture and function is necessary. A recent study suggests that quantitative gait parameters, like step width, have a higher heritability than observational gait scores in poultry (Duggan, Rae, Clements, & Hocking, ). This study suggests that there may be more room for hind limb selection as well, by focusing on the highly plastic traits of the bones and muscles, as these types of traits have been correlated with evolutionary responsiveness.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of musculoskeletal growth and dimensional changes associated with selection and developmental plasticity in domestic and wild strain turkeys

Stover

Weinreich

Roberts

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Domestication is a type of experimental evolution in which humans have artificially selected for specific desired traits. Selected strain animals can be utilized to identify correlated responses by comparing them to the wild strain. In particular, domestic turkeys have been selected for increased body mass and high‐growth rate, most significantly over the past 60 years. Yet it remains unclear how artificial selection has affected the morphology and evolution of the musculoskeletal system as a whole. Here, we compare growth rate over 21 weeks, hind limb bone scaling across ontogeny via in vivo CT scanning, and muscle proportions in wild and domestic turkeys to identify differences in structural scaling and the potential contributions of selection and developmental plasticity to whole‐organism morphology. The domestic turkeys grew at a higher rate (0.14 kg/day vs. 0.05 kg/day) and reached over 3 times the body mass of wild birds. Comparing the proportional muscle masses in adult turkeys, only the trunk had a greater mass ratio in the domestic turkey, driven solely by M. pectoralis (2.8 times larger). The proportional increase in only breast meat and no other muscles highlights the surgical precision attainable with artificial selection. The domestic turkey femur and tibiotarsus displayed increases in polar moment of area, apparently maintaining torsional strength as body mass increased. The lack of dimensional change in the more vertically held tarsometatarsus is consistent with the pattern expected due to developmental plasticity. These results from the domestic turkey emphasize that there are morphological limits to preserving the balance between growth and function, and varying rates of trait evolution can further complicate this equilibrium.

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Higher heritabilities for gait components than for overall gait scores may improve mobility in ducks

Cited by 7 publications

References 28 publications

Waddle and shuffle: Gait alterations associated with domestication in turkeys

Waddle and shuffle: Gait alterations associated with domestication in turkeys

Effects of Elevated Grids on Growing Male Chickens Differing in Growth Performance

Patterns of musculoskeletal growth and dimensional changes associated with selection and developmental plasticity in domestic and wild strain turkeys

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