{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T14:18:10Z","timestamp":1785421090801,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]],"date-time":"2026-06-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781568000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100015516","name":"Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["27320"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["27320"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100015516","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["27320"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["27320"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/02ftfma65","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000038","name":"Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada-CRD Program","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["401329"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["401329"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000038","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["401329"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["401329"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h531d29","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100014972","name":"Egg Farmers of Canada","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["053529"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["053529"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100014972","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["053529"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["053529"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00vxae445","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100024276","name":"Egg Farmers of Ontario","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["053445"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["053445"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100024276","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Alltech Canada","award":["053530"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["053530"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100020385","name":"O&T Farms","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["053057"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["053057"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100020385","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Omega-3 fatty acids transferred from breeder hens to their developing offspring via the egg may affect the offspring\u2019s emotional reactivity and fearfulness. In one experiment, broiler (meat) parent flocks were fed flaxseed or control diets during rearing, laying, or both. In a second experiment, ISA Brown and Shaver White layer (egg) parent flocks were fed flaxseed or control diets throughout rearing and laying. Male and female broiler offspring and female layer offspring underwent a five-minute social isolation test at 4\u20136 days of age. Vocalisations, escape attempts, and freezing (immobility) durations were recorded. In the broiler experiment, maternal laying diet and sex interacted to affect vocalisation frequency (\u03c72 = 5.57, p = 0.02). Male broiler chicks from the flaxseed maternal laying diet vocalised most frequently (p &lt; 0.04). An interaction between the rearing diet, laying diet, and sex affected escape attempts in broiler offspring (\u03c72 = 6.03, p = 0.01). Control-control males made the fewest escape attempts. In the layer experiment, no maternal diet effects were observed in any offspring, but Brown chicks vocalised substantially more than White chicks (\u03c72 = 4.56, p = 0.03), and White chicks spent more time frozen (\u03c72 = 5.86, p = 0.02). We found sex-specific effects of maternal flaxseed diets on measures of anxiety and fear of broiler chickens in social isolation. Genetic strain-dependent effects in layer chickens suggest differing behavioural responses to isolation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani16121852","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]],"date-time":"2026-06-16T09:06:52Z","timestamp":1781600812000},"page":"1852","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Effects of Maternal Omega-3 Supplementation, Sex, and Strain on Chick Behaviour During Social Isolation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8074-5624","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rosie H.","family":"Whittle","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada"},{"name":"The Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Poultry Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9752-8546","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elijah G.","family":"Kiarie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3274-7558","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tina M.","family":"Widowski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada"},{"name":"The Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"28","DOI":"10.1186\/s40104-015-0029-9","article-title":"Nutrition and Metabolism in Poultry: Role of Lipids in Early Diet","volume":"6","author":"Cherian","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. 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