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Laying Period (laying + period)
Selected AbstractsRestoration of body mass in King Penguins after egg abandonment at a critical energy depletion stage: early vs late breedersJOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY, Issue 4 2001Jean-Patrice Robin In fasting-incubating seabirds, it has been proposed that egg abandonment and refeeding should be induced when a low body mass (BM) threshold is attained, thus ensuring adult survival at the expense of immediate breeding. In the context of life-history trade-offs in long-lived birds, we have tested this hypothesis by comparing short-term survival and restoration of BM in King Penguins Aptenodytes patagonicus that abandoned their egg to those that were relieved normally by their mate at the end of the first incubation shift. Since King Penguins have an extended laying period, the possible influence of seasonal factors was also examined by comparing early and late breeders. Forty incubating males were experimentally forced to fast until egg abandonment by preventing relief by the female. At egg abandonment of both early and late breeding males, BM was below the BM threshold, fasting duration was eight days (about 30%) longer than for relieved birds, and plasma uric acid level was elevated (signature of increased body protein catabolism, phase III of fasting). All abandoning birds survived and came back from sea at a BM similar to that of relieved penguins. The duration of the foraging trip of abandoning early breeders was the same as that of relieved birds, and some abandoning birds engaged in a new breeding attempt. Abandoning late breeders, however, made foraging trips twice as long as those of relieved males. This difference can be explained by time constraints rather than nutritional constraints, abandoning early breeders having enough time left in the breeding season to engage in a new breeding attempt in contrast to abandoning late breeders. These observations lend support to the suggestion that not only BM but also an internal clock intervene in the decision to engage in breeding or not. By preventing a lethal energy depletion ashore and by acting at a fasting stage where the capacity to restore BM at sea is unaffected, abandonment at a low body condition threshold plays a major role in the trade-off between adult penguin survival and reproduction. [source] How costly is clutch formation in the Audouin's Gull Larus audouinii?JOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY, Issue 4 2000Xavier Ruiz During the Audouin's Gull's breeding season at the Ebro Delta in 1993, 24 fresh eggs from eight three-egg clutches (modal clutch-size) were collected at the peak of the laying period. Eggs were processed to obtain formalin-fixed yolks, which were halved and stained using the potassium dichromate method. Digitized images of the yolks were examined to assess the daily rates of yolk deposition. We used these data in combination with egg compositional analysis to build a model of energy demands during the formation of an average clutch in Audouin's Gull. To show how the different parameters of clutch formation affect the daily energy investment peak, we performed a simulation analysis in which the rapid yolk development (RYD) period, the follicle triggering interval (FTI), the laying interval (LI) and the albumen synthesis period (ASP) were allowed to vary simultaneously. In our sample, the mean RYD period was seven days with a range from six to eight days. There were no significant differences in yolk volume among eggs in a clutch, but albumen volume was significantly smaller in third eggs. According to our model the albumen synthesis of the a-egg coincides with the energy demand peak for clutch formation. This peak represents an increase by ca. 42% in female energy requirements. Values obtained from the simulation analysis showed that only the ASP of the a-egg and the RYD durations of the second and third follicles produced noticeable reductions in peak energy investment. We predict that in gulls, whose laying intervals seem to be kept constant, significant increases of the durations of the RYD periods of second and third eggs, or even significant reductions of yolk size of these eggs, may operate simultaneously to match the energy demands during clutch formation to the prevailing food conditions. [source] Body size and determinants of laying date variation in the Snow Petrel Pagodroma niveaJOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY, Issue 3 2000Christophe Barbraud We studied several determinants of laying date variation and the relationship between laying date and reproductive success in the Snow Petrel Pagodroma nivea. The effects of female body size and condition, year, individual laying period, colony size, mate fidelity, previous reproductive success, and duration of the pre-laying exodus on laying date, were investigated during a 3-year study. The average laying date was 4 December. The laying period was compressed into 10,16 days and was very constant from year to year, both for the population as a whole and for individual females. The laying period of individual females varied from year to year on average by less than one day. Body size explained 24% of the variation in laying dates, with large females laying their egg later than small ones. Laying in large colonies occurred c. 2 days later than in small colonies, mainly because a higher proportion of large females bred in large colonies. There was no effect of mate fidelity, age, body condition and previous reproductive success on laying date, but the duration of the pre-laying exodus was strongly correlated with laying date. Smaller females had shorter pre-laying exodus (c. 17.7 days) than larger ones (c. 20.4 days). During the three years of the study reproductive success either increased, decreased or did not vary with laying date. Although body size is not maintained by selection on laying date alone, the genetic body size component of this species suggests that balancing selection on body size may act through laying date. [source] Substrate oxidation and retention in pigs and poultryANIMAL SCIENCE JOURNAL, Issue 2 2002André CHWALIBOG ABSTRACT A model combining data from gas exchange measurements with nutrient balances, demonstrating energy transfer between the pools of protein, carbohydrate and fat and their partition in the body, is described. Data from energy metabolism experiments with growing pigs and laying hens is incorporated into the model in order to illustrate methods of calculations and interpretations of the model. The experiments with pigs were carried out with growing pigs (20,100 kg) measured alternately on high (ad libitum) and low (near maintenance) feed levels on diets with low or high fat concentration. When energy intake from digested carbohydrate covered the requirements for growth, heat from oxidation of carbohydrate contributed 85,90% to the total heat production, while there was no net oxidation of fat. When the intake of digested carbohydrate was not sufficient to cover requirements, fat was mobilized from the body and oxidized. Energy from oxidation of carbohydrate was in all measurements below the energy in the carbohydrate pool, indicating transfer of energy from carbohydrate to fat metabolism in the process of de novo lipogeneis. The experiments with hens were carried out with 62 hens during the laying period from 26 to 47 weeks of age. The hens originated from two strains (A and B); they were kept in battery cages either individually or 3 hens/cage and fed ad libitum with an identical commercial diet. The partition of the protein pool between oxidation and retention was not influenced by the housing system. However, the genetic origin of hens effected protein utilization with relatively lower oxidation and higher retention in Strain B. The main part of the carbohydrate pool was oxidized (45,60%), but the hens kept individually oxidized more carbohydrate than those kept 3 hens/cage. Further, there were significant differences between the strains. Generally, about half of the fat pool originated from de novo lipogenesis from carbohydrate, indicating the importance of this process for fat retention in eggs. Fat oxidation depended on the energy supply from carbohydrate, hence with higher use of carbohydrate for oxidation in Strain B less fat was oxidized and more was used for fat synthesis. The presented results indicate that by combining results from gas exchange measurements with nitrogen and energy balances it is possible to evaluate the contribution of nutrients to the oxidative processes and the energy transfer between substrate pools. [source] | ||||||||||