Abstract
Maternal effects have been reported to alter offspring phenotype in laying hens. In this study, we investigated the effects of maternal environment and maternal age on egg traits and offspring development and behaviour. For this, we ran two experiments. First (E1), commercial hybrid hens were reared either in aviary or barren brooding cages, then housed in aviary, conventional cages or furnished (enriched) cages, thus forming different maternal housing treatments. Hens from each treatment were inseminated at three ages, and measures of egg composition, yolk testosterone concentration and offspring’s development, anxiety and fearfulness were assessed. In experiment 2 (E2), maternal age effects on offspring's growth and behaviour were further investigated using fertile eggs from commercial breeder flocks at three different ages. Results from E1 showed that Old hens laid heavier eggs with less yolk testosterone and produced offspring with fewer indicators of anxiety and fearfulness. Maternal rearing and housing affected egg traits, offspring weight and behaviour, but not in a consistent way. Effects of maternal age were not replicated in E2, possibly due to differences in management or higher tolerance to maternal effects in commercial breeders. Overall, our research confirms that maternal age and maternal environment affects egg composition, with maternal age specifically affecting yolk testosterone concentration, which may mediate physical and behavioural effects in offspring.
Highlights
Maternal effects have been reported to alter offspring phenotype in laying hens
A statistical contrast analysis determined that hens who were reared in aviaries produced heavier (P ≤ 0.0442) eggs than hens that were conventionally reared
In the first experiment (E1) of the current study, we observed that aviary-reared hens laid heavier eggs and had offspring that were heavier at hatch, more anxious in the social isolation test but had a shorter latency to look around when in tonic immobility
Summary
Maternal effects have been reported to alter offspring phenotype in laying hens. In this study, we investigated the effects of maternal environment and maternal age on egg traits and offspring development and behaviour. In experiment 2 (E2), maternal age effects on offspring’s growth and behaviour were further investigated using fertile eggs from commercial breeder flocks at three different ages. Maternal rearing and housing affected egg traits, offspring weight and behaviour, but not in a consistent way. The breeder hen’s life experience, whether positive or negative, can affect the behaviour and stress susceptibility of laying hens through epigenetic effects[4,5,6] or changes in the concentration of hormones, nutrients or other egg components deposited by the mother in her e ggs[7,8]. Our research group reported that maternal environment affected offsprings’ social behaviour and stress response, with aviary-reared mothers having less emotional offspring, whereas aviary-housed mothers had chicks with a lower stress response[19]
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