Analysis of severe feather pecking behavior in a high feather pecking selection line

TY - JOUR

T1 - Analysis of severe feather pecking behavior in a high feather pecking selection line

AU - Labouriau, R

AU - Kjaer, J B

AU - Abreu, G C G

AU - Hedegaard, J

AU - Buitenhuis, A J

PY - 2009

Y1 - 2009

N2 - Even though feather pecking (FP) in laying hens has been extensively studied, a good solution to prevent chickens from this behavior under commercial circumstances has not been found. Selection against FP behavior is possible, but for a more effective selection across different populations, it is necessary to characterize the genetic mechanism associated with this behavior. In this study, we use a high FP selection line, which has been selected for 8 generations. We present evidence of the presence of a major dominant allele affecting the FP behavior by using an argument based on the presence of mixture in the distribution of the observed FP and by studying the evolution of the proportion of very high FP along the sequence of 8 generations. This hypothesis is further supported by the fact that the gene transcription profile of the birds performing high FP differs from the profile of the other birds performing FP (456 genes differentially expressed from a total of 14,077 investigated genes)

AB - Even though feather pecking (FP) in laying hens has been extensively studied, a good solution to prevent chickens from this behavior under commercial circumstances has not been found. Selection against FP behavior is possible, but for a more effective selection across different populations, it is necessary to characterize the genetic mechanism associated with this behavior. In this study, we use a high FP selection line, which has been selected for 8 generations. We present evidence of the presence of a major dominant allele affecting the FP behavior by using an argument based on the presence of mixture in the distribution of the observed FP and by studying the evolution of the proportion of very high FP along the sequence of 8 generations. This hypothesis is further supported by the fact that the gene transcription profile of the birds performing high FP differs from the profile of the other birds performing FP (456 genes differentially expressed from a total of 14,077 investigated genes)

KW - severe feather pecking

KW - selection

KW - modeling

KW - inheritance pattern

U2 - 10.3382/ps.2009-00113

DO - 10.3382/ps.2009-00113

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 19762856

SN - 0032-5791

VL - 88

SP - 2052

EP - 2062

JO - Poultry Science

JF - Poultry Science

ER -