Divergent cloacal gland responses to short days in Japanese quail and short-term related consequences on social behavior and reproduction.

DOMINCHIN, M. F.; BUSSO, J. M.; GUZMÁN, D. A.; KEMBRO, J. M.; MARÍN, R. H.

Louisville, Kentucky

Congreso; Poultry Science Association 104th Annual Meeting; 2015

Poultry Science Association

Exposure to short day photoperiod(SD) in Japanese quail reduced gonadal development, and consequently, theircloacal gland (CG) size, reproductive capacity and aggressive behaviors.Interestingly, not all quail fully responded to SD inhibition with some birdseven showing no CG response. In a previous work, quail in SD were arbitrarilyclassified by their divergent CG development as either responsive (R) ornonresponsive (NR), with NR males showing on average intermediate CG and testosteronevalues between R and long day photoperiod reared males (LD). Herein weevaluated whether R and NR males differ in social interactions and reproductivepotential while under SD. LD males were used as controls with full reproductivecapacity. ANOVA, χ2 observed vs. expected, and proportion tests were usedto detect differences at P < 0.05. First, during peak photoinhibition (5 wkafter SP exposure) we assessed male-male aggressive interactions determiningwinners and losers. Individually-caged R, NR and LD residents received 5-min LDmale intruder visits along 4 consecutive days. Next wk, same males received10-min visits from a LD female partner along 3 d to determine whether thosemales could fertilize them. Male interactions showed that LD, NR and Rresidents respectively won 100, 64, and 0% of the fights and were able tofecundate 100, 100 and 17% of the females. Then, male-female encounters wereagain repeated 4 wk later to assess whether previous social interactions couldmodulate later reproductive performances during an initial photorefractionstage. Naive R, NR, and LD male residents were used as controls. Mounts, CGcontacts, and fertility showed an R < NR = LD pattern. Copulatory efficiency(CE) was found higher in NR compared with R and LP quail. No effects of previoussocial interactions were detected. Findings suggest that while on SD, NR malesare able to breed similarly to their LD counterparts regardless of the outcomeof a previous social interaction. Potential differences in the expression ofaggression between NR and LD males may underlie the observed differences in CE