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Background Feather pecking is a serious behavioral disorder in chickens that has a considerable impact on animal welfare and poses an economic burden for poultry farming. To study the underlying genetics of feather pecking animals were divergently selected for feather pecking over 15 generations based on estimated breeding values for the behavior. Methods and results By characterizing the transcriptomes of whole brains isolated from high and low feather pecking chickens in response to light stimulation we discovered a putative dysregulation of micro RNA processing caused by a lack of  Dicer1 . This results in a prominent downregulation of the  GABRB2  gene and other GABA receptor transcripts, which might cause a constant high level of excitation in the brains of high feather pecking chickens. Moreover, our results point towards an increase in immune system-related transcripts that may be caused by higher interferon concentrations due to  Dicer1  downregulation. Conclusion Based on our results, we conclude that feather pecking in chickens and schizophrenia in humans have numerous common features. For instance, a Dicer1 dependent disruption of miRNA biogenesis and the lack of  GABRB2  expression have been linked to schizophrenia pathogenesis. Furthermore, disturbed circadian rhythms and dysregulation of genes involved in the immune system are common features of both conditions.

The light response in chickens divergently selected for feather pecking behavior reveals mechanistic insights towards psychiatric disorders