Four behavioral tests associated with fear and aggressiveness in Japanese quail

Japanese quail were evaluated in 4 tests, performed aproximately 30 days appart from each other.
Partial mechanical restraint test , Social Interaction, Tonic Inmovility and Welfare assesment

Partial
mechanical restraint test was performed at 40 days of age. This test consists
in restricting the movement of the animal between two walls of a melamine box
of 20 x 10 cm (height per width, respectively) with the characteristic that the
front wall was made of glass, and the back wall was adjustable to induce
immobility in such a way that the animal cannot open the wings, but can move
the head and legs (Jones et al 2000). The experimenters retreated out of the
birds' sight, and the test was during 5 minutes recorded with a video camera
place in front of the box. All the birds were tested in 31 batches of 4 animals
each, where the birds had no visual or physical contact between each other. The
video was analyzed manually, and the following variables were recorded: the
latency to struggle considered as time between the initiation of restraint
until the first struggling episode (defined as the movement of the legs of the
animal trying to escape) and the number of struggles during the observation
period. The struggle episodes were considered different if they were separated
by 5 s or more. The immobility of the animal during the test has been widely
considered in the literature as an indicator of intense fear.

Social
interaction (SI) test was performed between 70 days of age. This test is
described in detail in Caliva et al (2017, Poult Sci9 6(12):4140-4150). Briefly, the SI test consists
in a 5 min encounter between an unfamiliar test adult bird and a photocastrated
stimulus adult male, in the presence of the test bird’s cagemate (audience). A
video-camera was positioned 1 m above the apparatus and connected to a computer
that allowed constant monitoring and recording during the test while out of the
sight of the birds. Using behavioral tracking software (Any-maze, 2015) the
following aggressive behaviors were recorded:
Pecks: when
one bird raises its head and vigorously pecks the other bird’s body (usually on
the head).
Grabs: when
a male catches (“grabs”) with their beak the neck or head region of the female.
Mounts:
while performing a grab, the male approaches a female from behind, and places
both
feet on the
dorsal surface of its torso, stepping over the females’ tail.
Cloacal
contacts: during mounting, the male lifts his tail and tilts his pelvis
underneath the other bird and briefly presses its cloaca against the female.
Threats:
one bird stands with its neck and head raised in front of the other bird that
usually has itshead at a lower level than the first.
Chase: a
bird runs after another that is escaping.
Attack with
claws.

Tonic
immobility (IT) test was performed at 100 days of age, the individual was place
in the left lateral decubitus and hold for 15 seconds, holding him with both
hands against a support base (one hand on the head and another in the body). We
recorded the number of inductions to achieve an immobility of at least 10
seconds and the duration of the immobility (IT). A long duration of IT and a
smaller number of necessary inductions is indicative of a high level of fear as
opposed to a short response 41. If IT was not attained after 5 successive
attempts, the bird was considered not to be susceptible and scores of 0 were
given for TI duration.

Welfare
assessment. At 96 and 108 days of age female skin lesions and plumage status
were evaluated using an adapted version of the protocol proposed by Welfare
Quality ® consortium 42. Head, neck and back skin lesions were determined using
a score scale from 0 to 2 where "0" represents no lesions (punctiform
damage <0.25 cm diameter) or scratches, "1" represents less than 3
lesion or scratches, and "2" reflects 3 or more lesion or scratches.
Head, neck and back plumage damage was also determined using a score scale from
0 to 2 as follows: "0" represents individuals with no plumage damage
or slight wear (only single feathers lacking), "1" represent
individuals with one or more body parts that have moderate wear (i.e. damaged
feathers worn or deformed) or one or more featherless areas < 1.5 cm in diameter
at the larger extent and "2" corresponded to individuals that have at
least one featherless area > 1.5 cm in diameter at the largest extent (Pellegrini et al 2017, Poult. Sci. 96(E-Suppl. 1):133 )

Data descriptor submitted to Sci Data "High resolution behavioral time series of Japanese quail within their their social environment"