Identification and functional characterization of causal genes affecting feather pecking and aggressive pecking in laying hens

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Feather pecking and cannibalism are serious problems poultry production. They have not only negative economic and environmental implications, but also represents a serious welfare problem. The aims of a recent project were to obtain a deeper understanding of ethological and genetic mechanisms of feather pecking. In that project a large experimental population consisting of about 950 F2-cross laying hens was established and characterized phenotypically for a wide range of behavior traits. The trait interrelation structure was investigated by correlation analyses as well as non-parametric statistics. In addition, the individuals were genotyped for a 60K SNP-chip and these data were used for genome-wide association analyses. Several pecking behavior associated chromosomal clusters were identified. The follow-on project is designed as an in-depth analysis of these chromosomal clusters. The overall aim is to derive and validate (novel) hypotheses with regard to feather pecking and aggressive pecking behavior in laying hens by means of mapping and functional analyses of causal genes affecting these traits. With these aims the project contributes to the genetic dissection of pecking behavior in laying hens and to a better understanding of the motivation for these abnormal behavior patterns. Further, it contributes to the goals of the precision animal breeding framework, which is urgently needed, because feather pecking will be an integral part of laying hen breeding goals soon.