Effects of male to female Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) interactions on female´s plumage and skin condition

ORSO, G.A.; GUZMAN D. A.; MARIN R. H.

LIVESTOCK SCIENCE

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2024 vol. 280 p. 1 - 7

1871-1413

The high incidence of aggression in mature domesticbirds is a major concern for the poultry industry. In Japanese quails, an overallscore on female plumage condition was proposed to identify whether their malepartner showed an aggressive profile towards them. This study delves further into the relationship between aggressive and/or sexualmale Japanese quail performances and the plumage and skin condition of theirfemale counterparts. We used an original “more rigorous” scoring system and a singlefemale body areas approach, aiming to easily identify specific regions that arepredominantly affected bymale´s aggressive and/or sexual behavior and could be used to predict male´sperformance. Additionally, this study investigates whetherdeteriorations in female plumage and skin condition induced by males when pairedwith a single female (1 male and 1 female) for pedigree purposes can also be similarlyevidenced when females are housed for multiplication purposes in groups of 4every 1 male. After 60 days of cohabitation, males were classified as low orhighly aggressive based on the number of pecks recorded, and female skin andplumage status was evaluated. The study found significant positive correlationsbetween male pecking and female’s head and neck plumage and skin status, but nocorrelation between male sexual behaviors and female plumage and skin status.Using the male classification according to the extreme aggressive performancetowards their female mate, females housed with highly aggressive males hadworse neck plumage and head and neck skin status than females housed with lowaggressive males. In addition, these highly aggressive males initiated morecopulation sequences but achieved the same number of cloacal contacts aslow-aggressive males. Regarding groups, highly aggressive males continued toexpress aggressive behaviors more frequently to the 4 females than thoseclassified as low aggressive. It was observed that the female group housed withhighly aggressive males had worse head plumage status than those housed withlow aggressive males. Our findings suggest that the level of maleaggressiveness can be discerned by examining the condition of the females´ headand neck plumage, irrespective of whether they are housed in pairs or withingroups. Plumage and skin body regions and conditions evaluated appear notuseful when aiming to infer male quail sexual activity.