Resumen
We provide raw data on physiological and behavioral variables of female quail (Coturnix japonica) under chronic cyclic heat stress and supplemented with thymol, both on long-term (i.e. weeks; Experiment 1) and daily and short-term time scales (i.e. within day; Experiment 2).
Métodos
A factorial design combining the effects of the diet supplied (two levels) and environmental temperature (two levels) was established to evaluate the dynamics of physiological and behavioral variables:
- Two experimental diets: basal (BASAL) and supplemented with 6.25 g of thymol/kg of feed (THY).
- Two environmental temperatures: standard temperature of 23.6 ± 0.1 °C (no heat stress; NHS) and increased environmental temperature of 34.2 ± 0.1 °C during 9h of daytime hours (heat stress; HS).
EXPERIMENT 1:
To assess dynamics of physiological variables five sample points were defined: two sample points in the period previous to experimental treatment (twelve and four days before experimental treatment began), and three sample points along experimental treatment (four, twelve and twenty days after experimental treatment began).
Body weight was measured every 8 days, beginning twelve days prior to initiation of experimental treatment. Feed intake (FI) was estimated as the difference between the amount of feed supplied to each animal (80 g) and the rest that remained in the feeders after two days, and then accumulated over the same 8-day period used for body weight measurement. Change in body weight and accumulated feed intake was estimated as the difference between the measured value for each time point and the value measured twelve days before experimental treatment began.
EXPERIMENT 2:
To assess dynamics of physiological (body temperature, respiratory rate and weight of droppings) and behavioral variables, four sampling days were defined: one sampling day in the period previous to experimental treatment (seven or six day before experimental treatment began) and three sampling days along experimental treatment (days 0-1, 3-4 and 7-8 after experimental treatment began). At each sampling day, variables were measured at least in three time of day points (early morning, early afternoon, late afternoon).
Body temperature: the cloacal temperature (tcloacal) values were recorded as an indicator of the core body temperature (Sinkalu et al., 2015), with the aid of a infrared thermometer (BRAUN®, measuring accuracy ±0.2 °C). The tcloacal was assessed the week prior to initiation of treatment (day -7) and on days 0, 3 and 7 of treatment. On each day of the recording, measurements of tcloacal were taken hourly from 8-19 h using standard procedure (Nguyen et al., 2015).
Respiratory rate: was registered at the same time points mentioned for body temperature. Respiratory rate was assessed by counting the number of thoracic movements for 15 s, and then, this value was multiplied by four to obtain the number of breaths per minute (bpm) (Tavares Nascimento et al., 2012).
Weight of dropping: droppings were collected on four sampling days, namely five days prior to initiation of experimental treatment (day -6) and on days 1, 4, and 6 of treatment. The day prior to assessment (at 18 h), aluminum foil was placed bellow the cage to facilitate droppings? collection. Birds remained undisturbed until 8 h the following day (early morning) when droppings were collected and weighed (OHAUS®, measuring accuracy, 0.1 g). Aluminum foil was immediately replaced and birds remained undisturbed until 15:30 h (early afternoon) when droppings were again collected and weighed. This procedure was then repeated and the last measurement was performed at 18 h (late afternoon) (Belay, Wiernusz and Teeter, 1992).
Behavioral recordings: were registered at the same time points mentioned for weight of droppings. The two birds within the cage were observed during a 5 min period. Every 10 s all behaviors performed by each animal were recorded. In total, 31 data points (T=31) were collected per cage. If a given behavior x at time t was not being performed by either animal, a 0 was registered (xt=0). If only one animal was performing the behavior, a 1 (xt=1) or if both were performing the behavior a 2 (xt=2) was registered. Thus, the average time spent performing each behavior was estimated as the proportion of the 5 min period in which each bird performed the behavior (Average time spent performing behavior x=(∑_(t=1)^T=xt )/(T*2)*5min). Behaviors were defined according to Caliva et al. (2019), Mack et al., (2013) and Schleidt (1984), and are listed below:
Panting: quail?s beak is open and breathing is abnormally short, rapid and shallow. Rapid up and down movements are observed in the throat region
Vigilance: static within the cage, body erect with both feet contacting the floor. No other part of the body is in contact with floor. Neck and head extended upwards.
Standing: static within the cage, body erect with both feet contacting the floor. No other part of the body is in contact with floor.
Lying: most of the ventral region of quail?s body is in contact with the cage floor. No space is visible between the cage floor and the quail.
Separating wings from the body: wings are elevated and a space can be seen between quail?s wings and the body.
Walking: displacement within the cage implying movement of the feet
Feeding: peaking at food in the feeding trough
Drinking: applying pressure to automatic nipple drinkers
Foraging: pecking at the ground, enrichment or other structural elements.
Pecks: when one bird raises its head and vigorously pecks the other bird?s body (usually on the head).