1Department of Animal Science, Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University, Musashino, Tokyo 180–8602, Japan
2Department of Agrobiological Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Ehime University, Matsuyama, Ehime, 790–8566, Japan
3Department of Bioresource Science, Graduate School of Biosphere Science, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima, 739–8528, Japan
*Corresponding author: E-mail: fhiroki@nvlu.ac.jp
To study behavioral responses to sweet taste stimuli in young chickens, White leghorn chicks were given mixed-solutions of quinine and saccharin or glycine for 10 minutes after being deprived of water for 6 h. The consumption of quinine alone solution was significantly lower than water control (p<0.05), whereas saccharin (1.0 mM) or glycine (0.5 M) produced a recovery from taste aversion of quinine to approximately 82–83% of baseline (control) level. Our results suggest that chicks seem to sense sweetness and this short-term test may be a useful tool to evaluate taste sense for chicks.
Taste, saccharin, quinine, glycine, water intake, chick
