IIBYT   23944
INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES BIOLOGICAS Y TECNOLOGICAS
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
An individually fitted physical barrier device as a tool to restrict the birds? spatial access: can their use alter behavioral responses?
Autor/es:
PELLEGRINI, S.; MARÍN, R. H.; GUZMÁN, D. A.
Revista:
POULTRY SCIENCE
Editorial:
POULTRY SCIENCE ASSOC INC
Referencias:
Año: 2015 vol. 00 p. 1 - 7
ISSN:
0032-5791
Resumen:
Social interactions have been extensivelystudied in poultry in a variety of environmental situations.Many studies allow full social contacts betweenbirds, but there are others in which the interactions aretested through barriers (wire mesh or glass). Thus a situationwhere, according to their needs, some birds canget access to physical contact with conspecifics whileothers cannot, would be useful to expand the testingoptions for social interaction studies. We developed anindividual physical barrier device (IPB) that is fittedon the birds to delimit their ambulation areas by preventingthem from passing across metal mesh boundariesthat IPB free counterparts can easily overcome.The prototypes showing greater efficacy consisted of asmall metal bar placed in the bird?s back perpendicularto the sagittal plane that slightly exceeds bodywidth, held with a harness fitted by 2 elastic fabricbands around the wings? base. To be useful, the IPBshould allow natural movements and not affect theexpression of behaviors (non-invasive). This study assessedwhether the IPB may alter adult Japanese quailbehavioral responses using 4 classical test situations:Open-Field, Runway, Time Budget in Home Box, andMating Interactions. Open-field ambulatory behaviorswere affected 1 h, but not 7 d, after IPB was fitted,suggesting that 7 d (or less) are required to habituateto the device. After that time period, IPB fittedbirds showed no differences in any of the behaviorsregistered in the other 3 tests situations when comparedto non IPB fitted birds. Findings suggest thatafter habituation, the IPB does not affect main behaviorsin adult quail. Its application could be expanded ifan IPB device is also found suitable for other poultryspecies.