Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
assuit
2
Department of Animal Production, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
3
Physiology Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Aswan University, Aswan, Egypt,
4
Department of Behavior and Management of Animal, Poultry and Aquatic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt
5
Poultry Center, Cooperative Agricultural Research Center, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX 77446, USA.
6
Department of Animal and Poultry Production, Faculty of Agriculture, South Valley University, Qena 83523, Egypt
7
Department of Poultry Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Sohag University, Sohag, Egypt
Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the behavioral aggressiveness, social stress and physiological parameters between same strain or toward other strains of male Fayoumi, Dandarawi and Gimmizah (local Egyptian chicken strains) during breeding period. A total of 96 male chicks (35 d of age) of these strains (3 strains × 8 replicates × 4 chicks), were used in the current study during a four-week experimental period. Various behavioral tests were studied, including social status, social tension, resident-intruder test (R-I) and social stress test (intra-line and inter-line aggression test) between the same or different strains to determine the most aggressive, submissive acts, total agonistic frequencies (TAF) plus the percentage and frequencies of agonistic displays (such as pecking and fighting). Moreover, blood samples were collected and analyzed for serum metabolites and hormones. Fayoumi rooster showed the most aggressive behavior, a higher social tension index, testosterone, heterophils and lymphocytes percentages in blood than the other strains. Also, it had significantly (P≤0.0001) longer fight duration than Gimmizah and higher TAF (P≤0.05) than Dandarawi and Gimmizah. On the other side, Gimmizah strain had less TAF, social rank, peck number and peck duration than other strains. In conclusion, male Fayoumi roosters are more aggressive toward Dandarawi and Gimmizah chickens. Thus, it is recommended to exclusively use the Gimmizah strain, or to combine it with Dandarawi or Fayoumi, when creating a male herd from Egyptian chicken strains for meat production.
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