Melatonin modulates tonic immobility and vigilance behavioural responses of broiler chickens to lighting regimens during the hot-dry season

- Ambient temperature fluctuated significantly as the hours of the day increased.
- Induction trial attempts lowest in broiler chickens administered with melatonin.
- Tonic immobility duration longest in broiler chickens administered with melatonin.
- Overall mean vigilance behavioural values lowest in melatonin-treated broiler chickens.

Experiments were conducted with the aim of determining the influence of melatonin administration on vigilance and tonic immobility (TI) responses of Marshall broiler chickens. The broiler chickens were reared on different lighting regimens and subjected to heat stress during the hot-dry season. Simple random sampling was used to assign 300 broiler chicks into three groups, comprising 100 broiler chicks each. Group I (12D:12L cycle) was raised under natural photoperiod of 12-h light and 12-h darkness, without melatonin supplementation. Group II (CL) was kept under 24-h continuous lighting, without melatonin administration. Group III (CL + MEL) was raised under 24-h continuous lighting; with melatonin supplementation at 0.5 mg/kg per os, via drinking water using a syringe. Beginning from day-old, broiler chickens in group III were individually administered with melatonin once daily for 8 weeks at 17:00 h. TI was induced by manual restraint, and vigilance elicited at self-righting graded for three days, two weeks apart, in 15 labeled broiler chickens from each of the three groups; at 06:00 h, 13:00 h and 18:00 h, starting from week 4-8. Each broiler chicken was laid on its back in a U-shaped cradle, covered with cloth. Thermal microenvironment parameters of dry bulb temperature (DBT) and relative humidity (RH) were recorded at the experimental site, concurrently during the vigilance and TI tests. Inside the broiler chickens' house, the weekly temperature-humidity index (THI) was lowest at week 4 of the study, with the value of 48.60 ± 0.08 °C. At week 4, the relationship between the THI and TI induction attempts was stronger in 12D:12L cycle (r = 0.589, P < 0.001) than CL (r = 0.264, P > 0.05) or CL + MEL (r = 0.096, P > 0.05) broiler chickens. This indicated that the broiler chickens on 12D:12L cycle were more active compared to their melatonin-treated counterparts, apparently due to adverse effects of high DBT and high RH on the broiler chickens during the hot-dry season. The highest numbers of TI induction trial attempts were recorded at 13:00 h in 12D:12L cycle and CL groups (2.13 ± 0.34 and 2.15 ± 0.22, respectively), when the broiler chickens were at week 8. The overall mean values of induction trial attempts differed significantly (P < 0.0001) between the groups; with the lowest mean values of 1.22 ± 0.4 recorded in CL + MEL broiler chickens. At day 42, the lowest mean TI duration of 101.87 ± 10.24 s in the CL group, recorded at 06:00 h rose (P < 0.001) to 184.07 ± 23.69 s at 13:00 h. The overall mean duration of TI differed significantly (P < 0.0001) again between the groups; with the highest mean duration of 167.82 ± 8.35 s, recorded in CL + MEL broiler chickens administered with melatonin. The overall mean vigilance behavioural ranking values of 1.85 + 0.07 and 1.70 + 0.08, obtained in 12D:12L cycle and CL broiler chickens, respectively were higher (P < 0.0001) than the value of 1.44 + 0.05 recorded in melatonin-treated broiler chickens. The results indicated that broiler chickens belonging to both 12D:12L cycle and CL groups were more emotional, fearful or anxious, compared to CL + MEL broiler chickens. It was concluded that melatonin administration elicits boldness and confidence by suppressing freezing behaviour in broiler chickens, and it may improve their welfare and productivity.