title: Environmental enrichment reduces behavioural alterations induced by chronic stress in Japanese quail.
abstract: Animals perceiving repeated aversive events can become chronically stressed. Chronic activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis can have deleterious consequences on physiological parameters (e.g. BW, blood chemistry) and behaviour (e.g. emotional reactivity, stereotypies, cognition). Environmental enrichment (EE) can be a mean to reduce animal stress and to improve welfare. The aim of this study was first, to assess the effects of EE in battery cages on the behaviour of young Japanese quail and second, to evaluate the impact of EE on quail exposed to chronic stress. The experiment involved quail housed in EE cages and submitted or not to a chronic stress procedure (CSP) (EE cages, control quail: n=16, CSP quail: n=14) and quail housed in standard cages and exposed or not to the CSP (standard non-EE cages, control quail: n=12, CSP quail: n=16). Our procedure consisted of repeated aversive events (e.g. ventilators, delaying access to food, physical restraint, noise) presented two to five times per 24 h, randomly, for 15 days. During CSP, EE improved quail's welfare as their stereotypic pacing decreased and they rested more. CSP decreased exploration in all quail. After the end of CSP, quail presented increased emotional reactivity in emergence test. However, the effect of EE varied with test. Finally, chronic stress effects on comfort behaviours in the emergence test were alleviated by EE. These results indicate that EE can alleviate some aspects of behavioural alterations induced by CSP.
authors.affiliation: 1UMR 6552 EthoS,Rennes University,CNRS,263 avenue du Général Leclerc,35042 Rennes,France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Laurence
authors.affiliation: 1UMR 6552 EthoS,Rennes University,CNRS,263 avenue du Général Leclerc,35042 Rennes,France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Houdelier
authors.affiliation: 2UMR 85,INRA,CNRS,Tours University,37380 Nouzilly,France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Calandreau
authors.affiliation: 2UMR 85,INRA,CNRS,Tours University,37380 Nouzilly,France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Arnould
authors.affiliation: 2UMR 85,INRA,CNRS,Tours University,37380 Nouzilly,France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Favreau-Peigné
authors.affiliation: 2UMR 85,INRA,CNRS,Tours University,37380 Nouzilly,France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Leterrier
authors.affiliation: 3UMR1213 Herbivores,INRA,63122 Saint-Genès Champanelle,France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Boissy
authors.affiliation: 1UMR 6552 EthoS,Rennes University,CNRS,263 avenue du Général Leclerc,35042 Rennes,France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lumineau
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D003370:Coturnix / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D004777:Environment; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006799:Housing, Animal; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000502:physiology; D013312:Stress, Physiological
keywords: behaviour; development; environmental enrichment; quail; welfare