Some abnormal maternal behaviours and their relation with chromosomal aberration in rabbits

Forty doe rabbits of both breeds [New Zeal and Native] were used through consecutive three parities to investigate the possibility of the effect of chromosomal aberrations on some abnormal maternal behavior [failure of the doe to build a maternal nest on the day of or prior to delivery, scattering and cannibalism]. The results revealed that there was a significant increase in the mean number of cells with structural aberrations in all does having abnormal maternal behavior with the exception of end to end association and centrometric attenuation in the native does. The numerical aberrations showed a significant effect only at two types of aberrations [monosomic and trisomic] in the New Zeal and does and also in polyploidy only in the native ones. Also, the results revealed that there was a significant increase in values of mitotic activity in does showing abnormal maternal behavior than those having normal maternal behavior. The results indicated that, the New Zeal and does which show abnormal maternal behavior have more genetic disorders than those of the native ones

Effect of group size, age and strain on the behaviour of Japanese quail

Fifty six quail hens from two strains [28 from each] were included in this study. Birds of each strain were divided into 4 groups in density of 2, 3, 4, and 5 birds/cage in two replicates for each group. Birds were observed for period from 6 to 12 weeks of age for changes in behavioral traits due to population size, age and strain effects. There was a significant difference in drinking, moving, preening and ruffling frequencies due to group size effect. However, larger sized groups perform higher percentage of rest, lower percentage and frequency of st and ing, higher frequencies of moving, preening, ruffling, head shaking and more wing and leg stretch and fewer aggressive pecking and gained more weight than the small sized groups. Positive correlation between body weight and group size was also observed. Moreover, feeding, drinking, moving and st and ing behavior were highly significantly [P <0.01] affected with age. On the other h and, except st and ing and aggressive pecking, none of the behavioral pattern was significantly affected by the strain of quail. The percentage and frequency of aggression was significantly higher in brown than white quails. Moreover, brown quails gained significantly more weight than white ones

Effect of estrogenic hormones on taste aversion conditioning and exploratory behaviour in guinea pigs

The extent to which hormones can serve as unconditioned stimuli in a conditioned taste aversion paradigm was examined in guinea pigs, with 0.2% saccharine solution serving as the conditioned stimulus. Subcutaneously injected estrogenic hormones were found to be a potent unconditioned stimuli. This work was carried out on 50 adult male guinea pigs. Results showed that the average drinking time taken by the control C group was significantly higher than that of the treated groups during habituation. During the test session, the C group drank significantly more of the solution to which it was averted than did the estrogen treated groups, and drank significantly less of the comparison solution. The exploratory behavior has been significantly suppressed in the treated animals. Results could explain and help in underst and ing the mechanisms involved in conditioned taste aversion learning as a wide array of hormone dependent behavioral responses