Influence of maternal corticosterone treatment on incubation length of eggs laid by Japanese quail hens selected for divergent adrenocortical stress responsiveness

Schmidt, J. B.; Andree, R.M.; Davis, K.A.; Treese, S.M.; Satterlee, D. G.

doi:10.1080/00071660903317571

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…At this point, we may only speculate why the expected negative association between CORT reactivity and reproductive success is dissipated in females facing a high risk of predation. Longer incubation periods under high predation risk may increase clutch predation risk (Martin & Schwabl, ), an effect that could be counterbalanced by elevated maternal CORTs speeding up the rate of embryonic development (Schmidt et al ., ). Perhaps in line with this argument, shy eider females having longer flight initiation distances had an abbreviated incubation period (Seltmann et al ., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Context‐dependent stress responses and their connections to fitness in a landscape of fear

2014

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The acute glucocorticoid stress response is presumed to facilitate escape from life‐threatening situations such as predation and thus it is assumed to be linked to fitness. However, the fitness effects of glucocorticoid reactivity remain controversial, as these effects may be context‐dependent. Individuals differing in their emphasis on current versus future reproduction may differ in their risk‐taking under threat of predation; this variation in risk‐taking may be mediated by variations in stress reactivity. We set out to test whether predation risk (island‐ and year‐specific proportion of depredated nests) modified the relationships between stress responsiveness and current reproductive investment (clutch weight) and between stress responsiveness and reproductive success (viable proportion of the clutch) in the long‐lived female eider Somateria mollissima. This study system shows large spatial and annual fluctuations in predation risk, indexed by the annual island‐specific proportion of depredated nests. The capture stress‐related corticosterone output was attenuated with increasing clutch weight under low predation pressure but elevated under severe predation pressure, and females in well‐concealed nests had lower stress responsiveness. The viable proportion of the clutch decreased with increasing corticosterone reactivity under low to moderate predation pressure, but slightly increased under severe predation pressure. The acute stress response may thus mediate adaptive plasticity; dampened stress reactivity may ensure successful reproduction under low predation threat or in nest sites reducing detection by visual predators, whereas preparing for potential attacks may be favoured under elevated predation risk.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Context‐dependent stress responses and their connections to fitness in a landscape of fear

2014

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“…In particular stress hormones and sex hormones are well known to exert large effects on the developing brain [41]. Similar to the thyroid hormones, corticosterone (CORT) has been implicated in the timing of hatching [42], and higher CORT levels might lead to earlier hatching [43]. Furthermore, CORT is one of the most well studied hormones in relation to effects of prenatal exposure on behavior [28], and it has been shown that prenatal treatment with CORT caused male chickens to be less aggressive and more prone to being pecked in comparison with controls, while no effect was seen in females [44].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Hatching Time on Behavior and Weight Development of Chickens

Løtvedt

Jensen

2014

PLoS ONE

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The length of the embryonic period varies both among and within species and can affect the individual phenotype in many ways, both physiologically and behaviorally. In chickens, the hatch window may last 24–48 hours (up to 10% of the incubation time), and studies have shown that incubation length may affect post-hatch growth and physiology. However, little is known about effects on behavior. We therefore investigated how behavior variation correlates with hatching time in the early life of chickens. We also measured egg weight and egg weight loss in relation to hatching time, as well as post-hatch growth. For females, there was a negative correlation between hatch time and body weight from day 4 and throughout the experiment. For males, such a correlation was only observed when testing all hatched males up until day 10. The birds were exposed to a number of behavioral tests, and a principal components analysis was performed on the variables, resulting in four components. For the largest component, termed “Passivity”, a tendency of a difference was found between early and middle male hatchers. Furthermore, a significant difference between early and middle male hatchers was found in the second component, termed “Response to novelty”. In a spatial learning test, late hatchers tended to learn slower. The behavior of females was not significantly affected by hatching time in any of these tests. This study is among the first to demonstrate a link between time of hatching and early behavior in a precocial species like the chicken, and may help shedding light on the evolutionary trade-offs between incubation length and post-hatch traits. The results may also be relevant from a perspective of stress coping and therefore also for animal welfare and productivity in the chicken industry. The mechanisms linking hatching time with post-hatch phenotype remain to be investigated.

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“…A reduction of embryogenesis period arises as a result of selection for the trait of stress resistance in quails, particularly young L + hatch 3.7 hours earlier than L  [47]. This was confirmed in experiments with implantation of empty (control) and containing corticosterone implants (experiment) with L  (control) 397.8±0.5 hours > L  (experiment) 395.9±0.7 hours > L + (control) 393.8±0.3 hours > L + (experiment) 391.2±0.4 hours [48].…”

Section: Features Of Embryogenesis In Meat Hens Genotypes With Differmentioning

confidence: 54%

“…Selection for FP traits determines the differentiation of livestock related to the degree of sympathicoadrenal system (SA) and HPA reactivity. Selection for the increase in stress reactivity results in a reduced embryogenesis period [47,48]. The positive effect of hen selection for FP reduction causes the deterioration of egg quality [58].…”

Section: Features Of Embryogenesis In Meat Hens Genotypes With Differmentioning

confidence: 99%

REPRODUCTIVE FUNCTION IN HYBRID POULTRY. II. AN IMPACT OF BREEDING FOR TRAITS OTHER THAN PRODUCTIVITY (review)

Zabudskii¹

2015

S-h. biol.

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Herein, the data are summarized on the impact of such selection criteria as poultry cannibalism, ascites resistance, stress responsiveness, and primary immune response to reproductive function in poultry. The selection for one of these signs changes the productivity and other body functions. High-productive meat crosses differ from slow-growing chicks in a susceptibility to ascites (R. Wideman, 2001). Broilers' mortality because of ascites makes 5-10 %, and at the lowered temperature of the environment can reach 50 % calculated from world production (H. Pavlidis et al., 2007). Prerequisites to development of the disorder are formed during embryogenesis (E. Decuypere еt al., 2000). In the embryos who are the descendants of ascite resistant poultry (L ), a relative heart weight is reliable higher, and pipping shells and a hatching occur earlier, than in L + genotype lines for which the hypothyroidism and tachycardia are characteristic (D. Luger et al., 2002). An observed increase in egg incubation period in L + lines can be caused by lower activity of thyroid gland and an increased pCO 2 in egg air camera, and as a result, the embryos suffered from hypoxia. A positive correlation is revealed between the development of lungs and the thyroid gland activity during embryogenesis, i.e. the lungs volume is the larger the higher thyroidal hormone rate, and vice versa (M. Hassanzadeh et al., 2008). In the chickens with better developed lungs, grown up under chronic hypoxia, the mortality from ascites was reliably lower. In L + and L  broilers the mortality was 93.2 and 9.0 %, respectively (S. Druyan, 2009). The heart beating in L + and L  1-day chickens differed, being on average 435 and 404 beats per minute, respectively, but to the day 17 the difference practically leveled (419 and 417 beats per minute, respectively) due to a decreased rate in L + and an increased rate in L . Divergent selection for the feather pecking behavior causes differentiation in reactivity of the neuro-endocrine and immune systems (A. Buitenhuis, 2006). There are the evidences that the optimized incubation protocols for meat hens can prevent broiler chicks from ascites and improve safety of the poultry. Feather pecking reduced in the course of selected is associated with improvements in egg production (number and weight of eggs), but the deterioration in the quality of hatching eggs, the results of incubation, the state of derived chickens and changes of stress responsiveness and(or) immune response. So, the feather pecking rate was reliable lower in L  than in L + poultry, and the number and weight of eggs laid during a month are higher (i.e. 0.38 and 2.01 feather pecking per hour, 1223 and 1132 g, 24.4 and 18.3 eggs, respectively). However, the egg quality in L + hens was better compared to L  , with the Haugh units of 73.0 and 64.9, shell thickness of 38.1 and 37.0 mm, and yolk ration of 30.6 and 29.5 %, respectively (G. Su, 2006). Selection for humoral immune response causes the metabolic changes and influences on the synthesis of prote...

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Influence of maternal corticosterone treatment on incubation length of eggs laid by Japanese quail hens selected for divergent adrenocortical stress responsiveness

Cited by 13 publications

References 53 publications

Context‐dependent stress responses and their connections to fitness in a landscape of fear

Context‐dependent stress responses and their connections to fitness in a landscape of fear

Effects of Hatching Time on Behavior and Weight Development of Chickens

REPRODUCTIVE FUNCTION IN HYBRID POULTRY. II. AN IMPACT OF BREEDING FOR TRAITS OTHER THAN PRODUCTIVITY (review)

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