Corticosterone in feathers: Inter- and intraindividual variation in pullets and the importance of the feather type

Veterinary and Animal Science

Falko Kaufmann¹  Stefanie Döhring²  Robby Andersson³  Birgit Spindler³  Nicole Kemper⁴  Katharina Elisabeth Häffelin⁵  Rudolf Preisinger⁵  Rebecca Lindenwald⁵  Silke Rautenschlein⁶ 

[1] Corresponding author.;Corresponding author: University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture Sciences and Landscape Architecture, Am Krümpel 31, 49090 Osnabrück, Germany.;Clinic for Poultry, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover (Foundation), 30559 Hannover, Germany;EW GROUP GmbH, 49429 Visbek, Germany;Faculty of Agriculture Sciences and Landscape Architecture, Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences, 49090 Osnabrück, Germany;Institute for Animal Hygiene, Animal Welfare and Farm Animal Behavior, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover (Foundation), 30173 Hannover, Germany;

关键词: Laying hens;    Domestic chicken;    Animal welfare;    Indicator;    Glucocorticoids;    Stress;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

ABSTRACT: Measuring corticosterone concentrations in feathers of poultry may be suitable to determine birds' exposure to stress. It is thinkable, that in laying hens such information could be helpful as an animal welfare indicator to evaluate adverse husbandry conditions and to predict the risk of developing behavioral disorders, such as feather pecking and cannibalism. Yet, there are some fundamental issues which remain unclear. Therefore, the objective of the current pilot study was to examine the inter- and intraindividual variation of pullets at the end of the rearing period, when most of the feathers are fully grown and animals are reaching sexual maturity. Flight feathers from both wings (n = 4), the tail (n = 2 – 3), and body feathers (n = 1 pool of 3 – 5 feathers) were taken from pullets (n = 10), genetics Lohmann Brown, at an age of 19 weeks who were reared in the same flock (N = 728). Corticosterone analysis was performed applying a validated protocol for laying hens. Results indicate not only high intraindividual, but also high interindividual variation. Mean over all samples was 75.2 pg/mg (± 38.58 pg/mg, n = 76), showing higher intraindividual variation (between feather types; SD: 23.75 pg/mg – 49.38 pg/mg; n = 10 pullets) than interindividual variation (within feather types; SD: 11.91 pg/mg – 49.55 pg/mg; n = 6 feather types). The variation between different feather types within one bird was higher than the variation within one feather type between different birds, indicating that birds a) may respond differently when exposed to stressors and b) corticosterone measurements should be done with the same feather type.

【 授权许可】

Unknown