raleighblues
In the Brooder
- Jun 1, 2021
- 17
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I found the coolest study on inducing broodiness in Japanese Quail. Basically, after one night of sitting on a clutch of two, 1-day old chicks, 2-month old quail were able to turn broody—but they nearly killed their chicks the first night and they made shoddy mommas.
However, 8-month old quail were much better at being mommas, and it took them less time to accept chicks and mother them. So it might be that if you’re looking for a hen to go broody, choose an older hen!
Age Affects the Expression of Maternal Care and Subsequent Behavioural Development of Offspring in a Precocial Bird
“Young (2 month old) and elder (8 month old) females differed from their first encounter with chicks. Indeed, more chicks that spent the pre-induction night with young females showed signs of hypothermia the following morning, suggesting that young mothers had not accepted the chicks during this first night as easily as elder females had. As we found no other significant differences in chicks’ states later, our results suggest that young females become maternal only after a longer latency. After induction, when females are maternal, elder mothers warmed chicks for longer, presented more covering postures and broke contact with chicks less frequently than did young females who behaved abusively and trampled chicks during the first day following induction. Finally, time-budgets differed significantly between the two sets of females as elder females presented higher rates of motionless activities like observation or resting.”
However, 8-month old quail were much better at being mommas, and it took them less time to accept chicks and mother them. So it might be that if you’re looking for a hen to go broody, choose an older hen!
Age Affects the Expression of Maternal Care and Subsequent Behavioural Development of Offspring in a Precocial Bird
“Young (2 month old) and elder (8 month old) females differed from their first encounter with chicks. Indeed, more chicks that spent the pre-induction night with young females showed signs of hypothermia the following morning, suggesting that young mothers had not accepted the chicks during this first night as easily as elder females had. As we found no other significant differences in chicks’ states later, our results suggest that young females become maternal only after a longer latency. After induction, when females are maternal, elder mothers warmed chicks for longer, presented more covering postures and broke contact with chicks less frequently than did young females who behaved abusively and trampled chicks during the first day following induction. Finally, time-budgets differed significantly between the two sets of females as elder females presented higher rates of motionless activities like observation or resting.”
