Research with several species has demonstrated that individual differences in behavior or temperament influence behavior, well-being and economically important characteristics such as meat quality. In particular, differences in fearfulness are related to feather pecking in laying hens and meat quality in pigs and cattle. There has been scant research examining the behavior and well-being of commercial turkeys and even less is known about fear responses of turkeys or the possible relationships between fearfulness, feather pecking and meat quality. Fearfulness was examined in male commercial turkeys using four tests of fear, including tonic immobility (TI), open field, (OF), voluntary approach (VA), and novel object (NO) tests. Changes in fear responses over time were described and the reliability of all four tests of fear was assessed. Although behavior changed over time, most TI (latency to vocalize and number of vocalizations), OF (latency to ambulate, numbers of steps taken, squares entered, and defecations) and VA (latencies to move within two body lengths, one body length, approach and peck) test responses were reliable as indicated by significant, moderate correlation coefficients. The only reliable test measure for the NO test was the latency to peck the NO. The validity of the four tests was assessed by comparing inter-test correspondence at two ages (4-6 weeks and 8-10 weeks) using two strategies: 1) turkeys showing extreme behavioral responses in each test were selected and classified as high responders (HR) or low responders (LR) and their behavior was compared across test situations; 2) test measures from each test were correlated with test measures from all other tests. At 4-6 weeks, OF test behavior tended to be correlated with VA test behavior. At 8-10 weeks, OF test behavior was correlated with TI test behavior and tended to be correlated with NO test behavior. The OF test was subsequently used to 1) examine the relationship between fearfulness and feather pecking in males and females of a commercial (COMM) and randombred (RB) turkey strain, and 2) examine the relationship between fearfulness and meat quality in COMM and RB males. No associations were found between physiological (corticosterone levels) and behavioral OF responses and feather pecking or meat quality. Some strain differences were observed in feather pecking behavior. Specifically, plumage damage was worse in COMM compared to RB turkeys. Furthermore, a large percentage of turkeys (> 39%) developed feather pecking. In conclusion, this research demonstrates that behavior of turkeys in fear tests is reliable under the conditions of this research, but caution is needed when interpreting responses to the NO test. New information was presented regarding feather pecking behavior of turkeys. In contrast to laying hens, there does not appear to be an association between feather pecking behavior and fear responses in an OF test, nor is there an association with meat quality, contrary to what has been demonstrated with pigs and cattle. Results may be useful in the development of welfare assessment programs for turkeys because fear tests are often used to assess welfare. Moreover, results provide insights into feather pecking behavior and identify important areas for future research regarding feather pecking and the relationship between stress, meat quality and turkey temperament.
Read
