LEARNING ABILITY OF DAY-OLD PARTRIDGES (Alectoris rufa rufa) HATCHED FROM EGGS LAYED BY HENS FED WITH DIFFERENT n 3 LEVELS

Baldassare Fronte (1) , Paci Gisella (1) , Montanari Giulio , Bagliacca Marco (1)

1 Dipartimento di Produzioni Animali

ABSTRACT 1. The diets of commercial strains of laying partridge are usually lower in PUFA and n-3 fatty acids than the diets of wild partridges. The aim of this experiment was to examine the effects of three different PUFA and n 3 levels in partridge laying diets. 2. Offspring learning ability (Passive Avoidance Task – PAL – of day old chicks) was used to test the effects of three different parent diets (144 chicks were tested for each diet). A negative experience that consisted of allowing the bird to peck a bead bathed in a bitter liquid (methyl anthranilate - MA) was used for this purpose. The parents had been fed three different diets with n-3 content of 0.48, 4.04 and 7.60 g/kg, respectively. 3. There was a better memory retention of the offspring of parents fed the intermediate n 3 content with respect to those fed the lower content. Discrimination ratio (DR) of the latency time toward the wrong (red) bead was lower (P<0.05) for the lower n 3 content (0.48) than for the middle n 3 PUFA content (0.43). DR of the number of pecks toward the wrong beads was greater (P<0.05) for the lower n 3 content (0.51) than for the middle n 3 PUFA content (0.71). 4. The partridges that were fed the experimental diet containing the lowest level of n 3 and PUFA were not able to express the expected behavioural score (neural embryo development index) given the genetic characteristics of the animals.

Mots clés: Life Sciences

Baldassare Fronte, Paci Gisella, Montanari Giulio, Bagliacca Marco. LEARNING ABILITY OF DAY-OLD PARTRIDGES (Alectoris rufa rufa) HATCHED FROM EGGS LAYED BY HENS FED WITH DIFFERENT n 3 LEVELS. British Poultry Science, 2008, 49 (06), pp.776-780. ⟨10.1080/00071660802433115⟩. ⟨hal-00545340⟩