Mills AD, Faure JM
Station de Recherches Avicoles, Equipe Biologie du Comportement et Adaptation des Oiseaux, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Centre de Tours, 37380, Nouzilly, France
Appl Anim Behav Sci. 2000 Sep 1;69(2):125-134. doi: 10.1016/s0168-1591(00)00126-x.
Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) of lines, which have been subjected to contrasting selection for duration of the tonic immobility (TI) reaction or social reinstatement (SR) behaviour over many generations show corresponding differences in underlying fearfulness and sociality. As fearfulness and sociality are particularly influential traits in domesticated species, the finding that such traits respond to artificial selection may have important implications for poultry welfare and performance. However, it is not known if or how such selection has influenced human-animal interactions. The present experiment investigated the influence of fearfulness and SR behaviour on the ease with which birds could be caught and handled. Birds of lines selected for duration of the TI response or SR behaviour were reared in mixed line groups (LTI and STI or HSR and LSR) of 491 and 346 birds, respectively, until 6 weeks of age. When the birds were 2, 4, and 6 weeks of age, they were caught one by one and their individual capture ranks noted. In the group of birds selected for duration of the TI response, birds selected of the line selected for short duration of TI were caught before those selected for long duration of the response. In the group of birds selected for SR motivation, birds of the high line were caught before their low lines counterparts. Coefficients of concordance between capture ranks were significant and capture ranks did not differ significantly across ages. These results imply that selection for low levels of fear or high levels of sociality produces animals that are less disturbed by human interventions than animals selected for the opposite traits. The greater ease of capture of low fear line birds than high fear line birds may be explained by reduced fear of humans. The fact that the birds selected for high levels of SR behaviour are easier to catch than birds selected for low levels of sociality is less readily explicable. One hypothesis is that HSR line chicks tend to be more strongly imprinted on each other and the human caretaker. However, SR behaviour is highly species specific in both lines, existing evidence for line differences in social discrimination is limited and birds of the two lines show similar duration of the TI response. Despite this, whatever their underlying causation, these results demonstrate that genetic selection can be used to reduce negative reactions to human beings and may be of value in the improvement of both animal welfare and productivity.
在多代中，对日本鹌鹑（Coturnix japonica）进行了与强直静止（TI）反应持续时间或社会恢复（SR）行为相关的对比选择，结果显示在潜在的恐惧和社交性方面存在相应差异。由于恐惧和社交性在家养物种中是特别有影响力的特征，这些特征对人工选择有反应这一发现可能对家禽福利和生产性能具有重要意义。然而，尚不清楚这种选择是否以及如何影响人与动物的互动。本实验研究了恐惧和SR行为对捕获和处理鸟类难易程度的影响。分别在491只和346只鸟的混合品系组（LTI和STI或HSR和LSR）中饲养选择了TI反应持续时间或SR行为的品系的鸟类，直至6周龄。当鸟类为2、4和6周龄时，逐一捕获它们并记录其个体捕获排名。在选择了TI反应持续时间的鸟类组中，选择TI持续时间短的品系的鸟类比选择TI持续时间长的品系的鸟类先被捕获。在选择了SR动机的鸟类组中，高品系的鸟类比低品系的对应鸟类先被捕获。捕获排名之间的一致性系数显著，且捕获排名在不同年龄之间没有显著差异。这些结果表明，选择低水平恐惧或高水平社交性会产生比选择相反特征的动物更不易受到人类干预干扰的动物。低恐惧品系鸟类比高恐惧品系鸟类更容易捕获，这可能是由于对人类的恐惧降低。选择高水平SR行为的鸟类比选择低水平社交性的鸟类更容易捕获这一事实较难解释。一种假设是，HSR品系的雏鸟往往更强烈地相互印记以及对人类饲养员印记。然而，SR行为在两个品系中都具有高度物种特异性，关于社会歧视品系差异的现有证据有限，且两个品系的鸟类表现出相似的TI反应持续时间。尽管如此，无论其潜在原因如何，这些结果表明遗传选择可用于减少对人类的负面反应，并且可能在改善动物福利和生产力方面具有价值。
