Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T17:51:37.887Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The learning ability and memory retention of broiler breeders: 1 effects of reduced balanced protein diet on reward based learning

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 October 2018

C. Li ,
J. Lesuisse ,
S. Schallier ,
C. Lamberigts ,
Y. Wang ,
B. Driessen ,
N. Everaert  and
J. Buyse
C. Li
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Livestock Physiology, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30, 2456 Heverlee, Belgium
J. Lesuisse
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Livestock Physiology, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30, 2456 Heverlee, Belgium
S. Schallier
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Livestock Physiology, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30, 2456 Heverlee, Belgium
C. Lamberigts
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Livestock Physiology, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30, 2456 Heverlee, Belgium
Y. Wang
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Livestock Physiology, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30, 2456 Heverlee, Belgium
B. Driessen
Affiliation:
Research Group Animal Welfare, Wilbroek 25, 3583 Paal, Belgium
N. Everaert
Affiliation:
Precision Livestock and Nutrition Unit, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech,University of Liège, Passage des Déportés2, B-5030 Gembloux, Belgium
J. Buyse*
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Livestock Physiology, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30, 2456 Heverlee, Belgium
*
†E-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Learning and mental abilities of farm animals are important for their adaptation to new environments and could serve as an indicator for welfare and performance. This study assessed the learning ability and memory retention of broiler breeders through a T-maze test with a reward v. no reward set-up. Feed supplemented with or without meal worms served as a reward. Two trials were conducted with either parent stock (PS) breeders or pure line A (PL) breeders and with the same dietary treatment namely a control (C) group fed with standard commercial diets and a reduced balanced protein (RP) group fed with RP diets (25% reduction of CP and amino acids). To maintain similar target BW, the RP group received on average 10% more feed. A tonic immobility (TI) test was performed to estimate the fearfulness of PS breeders. Most breeders were capable of completing the T-maze tests, but the C group needed less time compared with the RP group when their own feed was given as a reward. However, when meal worms were provided as an extra incentive, the RP group completed the maze significantly faster than the C group. Compared to the C breeders, the RP breeders remained longer in a TI state, indicating a higher level of fearfulness. Long-term memory retention in the T-maze test was observed in both groups. It is concluded that the RP diet had no influences on the learning ability of the reward v. no reward discrimination test and its memory retention of broiler breeders. The increased amount of time the RP breeders needed to solve the test was probably due to a higher sense of fear. Furthermore, the RP diet enhanced the motivation of breeders to obtain an alternative feed such as meal worms.

Keywords

Controlled feedingDiet protein levelCognitionTonic immobilityMeal worm
Type
Research Article
Information
animal , Volume 13 , Issue 6 , June 2019 , pp. 1252 - 1259
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aviagen 2013. ROSS 308 parent stock management guide. Aviagen Incorporated, Huntsville, AL, USA.Google Scholar
Bennett, PM and Harvey, PH 1985. Brain size, development and metabolism in birds and mammals. Journal of Zoology 207, 491–509.10.1111/j.1469-7998.1985.tb04946.xGoogle Scholar
Bokkers, EA and Koene, P 2002. Sex and type of feed effects on motivation and ability to walk for a food reward in fast growing broilers. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 79, 247–261.Google Scholar
Bokkers, EAM, Koene, P, Rodenburg, TB, Zimmerman, PH and Spruijt, BM 2004. Working for food under conditions of varying motivation in broilers. Animal Behaviour 68, 105–113.10.1016/j.anbehav.2003.10.013Google Scholar
Buckley, LA, McMillan, LM, Sandilands, V, Tolkamp, BJ, Hocking, PM and D’Eath, RB 2011. Too hungry to learn? Hungry broiler breeders fail to learn a Y-maze food quantity discrimination task. Animal Welfare 20, 469–481.Google Scholar
Deacon, RM and Rawlins, JN 2006. T-maze alternation in the rodent. Nature Protocols 1, 7–12.10.1038/nprot.2006.2Google Scholar
Decuypere, E, Bruggeman, V, Everaert, N, Li, Y, Boonen, R, De Tavernier, J, Janssens, S and Buys, N 2010. The broiler breeder paradox: ethical, genetic and physiological perspectives, and suggestions for solutions. British Poultry Science 51, 569–579.Google Scholar
Farrell, TM, Morgan, A and MacDougall-Shackleton, SA 2016. Developmental stress impairs performance on an association task in male and female songbirds, but impairs auditory learning in females only. Animal Cognition 19, 1–14.Google Scholar
Ferreira, FR, Spini, VBMG, Lopes, EJ, Lopes, RFF, Moreira, EA, Amaral, MAF, Cunha, ALLS, de Souza Borges, AP, Marson, LB and Ribeiro, GDCC 2006. Effect of feed restriction on learning, memory and stress of rodents. Bioscience Journal 22, 91–97.Google Scholar
Forbes, JM and Shariatmadari, F 1994. Diet selection for protein by poultry. World’s Poultry Science Journal 50, 7–24.Google Scholar
Gallup, GG Jr 1979. Tonic immobility as a measure of fear in domestic fowl. Animal Behaviour 27, 316–317.10.1016/0003-3472(79)90159-3Google Scholar
Hogan, JA 1965. An experimental study of conflict and fear: an analysis of behaviour of young chicks toward a mealworm. Part I. The behaviour of chicks which do not eat the mealworm. Behaviour 25, 45–96.Google Scholar
Kauffman, AL, Ashraf, JM, Corces-Zimmerman, MR, Landis, JN and Murphy, CT 2010. Insulin signaling and dietary restriction differentially influence the decline of learning and memory with age. PLoS Biology 8, e1000372.10.1371/journal.pbio.1000372Google Scholar
Laus, MF, Duarte Manhas Ferreira Vales, L, Braga Costa, TM and Sousa Almeida, S 2011. Early postnatal protein-calorie malnutrition and cognition: a review of human and animal studies. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 8, 590–612.Google Scholar
Li, C, Lesuisse, J, Schallier, S, Clímaco, W, Wang, Y, Bautil, A, Everaert, N and Buyse, J 2017. The effects of a reduced balanced protein diet on litter moisture, pododermatitis and feather condition of female broiler breeders over three generations. Animal 12, 1493–1500.Google Scholar
Li, C, Schallier, S, Lesuisse, J, Driessen, B, Everaert, N and Buyse, J 2018. The learning ability and memory retention of broiler breeders: 2 the transgenerational effects of reduced balanced protein diet on reward based learning. Manuscript submitted for publication.Google Scholar
Lindqvist, C, Janczak, AM, Nätt, D, Baranowska, I, Lindqvist, N, Wichman, A, Lundeberg, J, Lindberg, J, Torjesen, PA and Jensen, P 2007. Transmission of stress-induced learning impairment and associated brain gene expression from parents to offspring in chickens. PLoS One 2, e364.Google Scholar
Lindqvist, C and Jensen, P 2009. Domestication and stress effects on contrafreeloading and spatial learning performance in red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus) and White Leghorn layers. Behavioural Processes 81, 80–84.Google Scholar
Marino, L 2017. Thinking chickens: a review of cognition, emotion, and behaviour in the domestic chicken. Animal Cognition 20, 127–147.Google Scholar
Mench, JA 2002. Broiler breeders: feed restriction and welfare. World’s Poultry Science Journal 58, 23–29.Google Scholar
Ng, WK, Liew, FL, Ang, LP and Wong, KW 2001. Potential of mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) as an alternative protein source in practical diets for African catfish, Clariasgariepinus. Aquaculture Research 32, 273–280.Google Scholar
Nicol, CJ 2015. The behavioural biology of chickens. CABI Publishing, Wallingford, UK.Google Scholar
Paxton, H, Anthony, NB, Corr, SA and Hutchinson, JR 2010. The effects of selective breeding on the architectural properties of the pelvic limb in broiler chickens: a comparative study across modern and ancestral populations. Journal of Anatomy 217, 153–166.Google Scholar
Reese, WG, Angel, C and Newton, JE 1984. Immobility reactions: a modified classification. Integrative Physiological and Behavioural Science 19, 137–143.Google Scholar
Savory, CJ, Seawright, E and Watson, A 1992. Stereotyped behaviour in broiler breeders in relation to husbandry and opioid receptor blockade. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 32, 349–360.Google Scholar
Spratt, RS and Leeson, S 1987. Broiler breeder performance in response to diet protein and energy. Poultry Science 66, 683–693.Google Scholar
Steinruck, U, Roth, FX and Kirchgessner, M 1990. Selective feed intake of broilers during methionine deficiency. ArchivFuerGeflügelkunde 54, 173–183.Google Scholar
Tahamtani, FM, Nordgreen, J, Nordquist, RE and Janczak, AM 2015. Early life in a barren environment adversely affects spatial cognition in laying hens (Gallus gallus domesticus). Frontiers in Veterinary Science 2, 3.Google Scholar
Ueda, H, Suehiro, K, Kainou, S and Bungo, T 2005. Feeder color and feeder position act as a cue to discriminate between two diets in choice feeding of chicks. The Journal of Poultry Science 42, 321–328.Google Scholar
Ueno, A and Suzuki, K 2014. Comparison of learning ability and memory retention in altricial (Bengalese finch, Lonchurastriata var. domestica) and precocial (blue‐breasted quail, Coturnix chinensis) birds using a color discrimination task. Animal Science Journal 85, 186–192.10.1111/asj.12092Google Scholar
Vallortigara, G and Zanforlin, M 1989. Place and object learning in chicks (Gallus gallus domesticus). Journal of Comparative Psychology 103, 201.Google Scholar
Van Emous, RA, Kwakkel, RP, Van Krimpen, MM and Hendriks, WH 2015. Effects of dietary protein levels during rearing and dietary energy levels during lay on body composition and reproduction in broiler breeder females. Poultry Science 94, 1030–1042.Google Scholar
Wang, S, Ni, Y, Guo, F, Fu, W, Grossmann, R and Zhao, R 2013. Effect of corticosterone on growth and welfare of broiler chickens showing long or short tonic immobility. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology 164, 537–543.Google Scholar
Wang, S, Ni, Y, Guo, F, Sun, Z, Ahmed, A and Zhao, R 2014. Differential expression of hypothalamic fear-and stress-related genes in broiler chickens showing short or long tonic immobility. Domestic Animal Endocrinology 47, 65–72.Google Scholar
Wechsler, B and Lea, SE 2007. Adaptation by learning: its significance for farm animal husbandry. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 108, 197–214.Google Scholar