Lipids in maternal diet influence yolk hormone levels and post-hatch neophobia in the domestic chick
Abstract
International audienceWe assessed whether the ratio of dietary n-6/n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) during egg formation engenders transgenerational maternal effects in domestic chicks. We analyzed yolk lipid and hormone concentrations, and HPA-axis activity in hens fed a control diet (high n-6/n-3 ratio) or a diet enriched in n-3 PUFAs (low n-6/n-3 ratio) for 6 consecutive weeks. Their chicks were tested for neophobia during the first week of life. We found higher corticosterone metabolites in droppings of hens fed the diet enriched in n-3 and significantly higher concentrations of yolk progesterone, androstenedione, and estradiol in their eggs compared to controls. Chicks of hens fed the n-3 enriched diet showed a lower body mass at hatch than controls and expressed higher neophobia when exposed to a novel object. These results add support to the hypothesis that the nutritional state of female birds produces variation in yolk hormone levels and engender maternal effects- info:eu-repo/semantics/article
- Journal articles
- Gallus gallus domesticus
- neophobia
- maternal effects
- poly unsaturated fatty acids
- yolk hormones
- [SDV.BA.ZV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Vertebrate Zoology
- [SDV.NEU.PC]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Neurons and Cognition [q-bio.NC]/Psychology and behavior
- [SDV.NEU.SC]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Neurons and Cognition [q-bio.NC]/Cognitive Sciences
- [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]