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

MARIA FLORENCIA DOMINCHI; JUAN M. BUSSO; DIEGO A. GUZMÁN; JACKELYN M. KEMBRO; RAÚL H. MARIN

Louisville, Kentucky

Congreso; Poultry Science Association 104th Annual Meeting; 2015

Poultry Science Association

Exposure to short day photoperiod (SD) in Japanese quail reducedgonadal development, and consequently, their cloacal gland (CG) size,reproductive capacity and aggressive behaviors. Interestingly, not allquail fully responded to SD inhibition with some birds even showing noCG response. In a previous work, quail in SD were arbitrarily classifiedby their divergent CG development as either responsive (R) or nonresponsive(NR), with NR males showing on average intermediate CG andtestosterone values between R and long day photoperiod reared males(LD). Herein we evaluated whether R and NR males differ in socialinteractions and reproductive potential while under SD. LD males wereused as controls with full reproductive capacity. ANOVA, χ2 observedvs. expected, and proportion tests were used to detect differences at P< 0.05. First, during peak photoinhibition (5 wk after SP exposure) weassessed male-male aggressive interactions determining winners andlosers. Individually-caged R, NR and LD residents received 5-min LDmale intruder visits along 4 consecutive days. Next wk, same malesreceived 10-min visits from a LD female partner along 3 d to determinewhether those males could fertilize them. Male interactions showedthat LD, NR and R residents respectively won 100, 64, and 0% of thefights and were able to fecundate 100, 100 and 17% of the females.Then, male-female encounters were again repeated 4 wk later to assesswhether previous social interactions could modulate later reproductiveperformances during an initial photorefraction stage. Naive R, NR, andLD male residents were used as controls. Mounts, CG contacts, andfertility showed an R < NR = LD pattern. Copulatory efficiency (CE)was found higher in NR compared with R and LP quail. No effects ofprevious social interactions were detected. Findings suggest that whileon SD, NR males are able to breed similarly to their LD counterpartsregardless of the outcome of a previous social interaction. Potentialdifferences in the expression of aggression between NR and LD malesmay underlie the observed differences in CE.