Behavior Patterns of Chickens to Ten Weeks of Age

Dawson, J. S.; Siegel, P. B.

doi:10.3382/ps.0460615

Cited by 29 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…We support the contention of Dawson and Siegel (1967) that grooming frequencies of male and female chickens appear to be similar in the first six weeks. We have also found that in both male and female chickens the usual order of appearance of grooming activities is preening the wing and the body, followed by scratching the head with the foot, dustbathing and preening to the uropygial gland.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 80%

“…In Dawson and Siegel's 1967 study of behavior patterns of chickens to ten weeks of age, preening, expressed as an average per bird per week, increased in a linear manner with age. The data collected in the present study show no relationship between total amount of preening per week and age, although there was a linear increase in body preening.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Grooming is defined here as those actions directly related to body surface maintenance including preening with the beak (Simmons, 1964), scratching with the foot, dustbathing (Borchelt et al, 1973), and oiling (Elder, 1954). Kruijt's masterful study (1964) of the ontogeny of behavior in the Burmese red junglefowl (.Gallus gallus spadiceus) briefly considered the different types of grooming and offered guidelines on their order of appearance, while Dawson and Siegel's (1967) paper looked at the development of preening with the beak in domestic chickens. Overmann (1974 and1975) discussed the effects of age, experience, strain and social facilitation on the development of dustbathing in bobwhite quail.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Development of Grooming Behavior in the Domestic Chicken, (Gallus gallus domesticus)

Williams

Strungis

1979

Poultry Science

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The sequential development of grooming in male and female domestic chickens was preening the body with the beak and scratching the head with the foot followed by dustbathing and later by oiling. The relative frequency of preening movements to different parts of the plumage seems to vary with the age of the chicken and be related to the development of the wing feathers. No difference was found in grooming frequency between males and females during the first six weeks.1979 Poultry Sci 58:469-472

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Development of Grooming Behavior in the Domestic Chicken, (Gallus gallus domesticus)

Williams

Strungis

1979

Poultry Science

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“…Sparring is an immature version of adult fighting, in which birds act out components of adult aggression such as jumping, kicking and pecking, but without forceful contact or injury (Guhl, 1958). Sparring behaviours develop in young chicks several weeks before aggressive fighting is seen (Guhl, 1958;Dawson and Siegel, 1967) and their frequency is not predictive of later aggression in broilers (Mench, 1988).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Play behaviour, fear responses and activity levels in commercial broiler chickens provided with preferred environmental enrichments

Baxter

Bailie

O’Connell

2019

Animal

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There is currently a lack of research investigating the effectiveness of commercial broiler enrichments, and in particular the ability of these additions to create opportunities for positive welfare. One aim of this study was to investigate whether offering broiler chickens enrichments that have recently been found to be preferred leads to increased levels of activity. A second aim was to investigate the emotional effects of provision of these enrichments by assessing levels of fearfulness and play-like activity. Commercially housed broilers were assigned to treatment houses containing either: (1) platform perches, (2) platform perches+peat dust baths, (3) no enrichment (control). Activity levels and play behaviours in unenriched areas of the house were measured in weeks 3, 4 and 5. Levels of active behaviours, such as foraging and locomotion, were determined from video recordings of undisturbed birds in unenriched areas of the house. To stimulate play-like behaviours an observer walked through the birds, displacing them and creating a space. The broilers using the space were then filmed for 5 min and the occurrences of frolicking, sparring and food-running were recorded. Fearfulness of broilers in unenriched areas of the house, and also when using enrichments, was measured using observer avoidance tests in week 5. We found that creating space among the broilers was a successful method of stimulating play (largely sparring and frolicking), with play being observed in 93% of videos, however the presence of enrichments did not have an effect on the level of play recorded (P>0.05). There was also no treatment effect on activity levels of broilers in unenriched areas (P>0.05), however levels of overall activity decreased as broilers aged. Compared with the control, flight distances in unenriched areas were significantly lower in the perches+dust bath treatment (P=0.026), and were numerically lower in the perches treatment. This suggests a reduction in fearfulness with increased environmental complexity, and thus possible welfare benefits. It is suggested that further research should investigate whether increasing the level of provision of these enrichments leads to more marked improvements in welfare.

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“…Wilson (1968) has shown that familiar objects in a novel testing area facilitated feeding in domestic chicks, presumably by reducing their fear. Dawson and Siegel (1967) found sex differences in the levels of home-cage resting and body-stretching in White Rock chickens; females rested more than males but stretched less. No differences were found in the present study but strain differences may explain these conflicting reports.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Activities of chicks in their home cages and in an open field

Jones

1978

British Poultry Science

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Behavior Patterns of Chickens to Ten Weeks of Age

Cited by 29 publications

References 10 publications

The Development of Grooming Behavior in the Domestic Chicken, (Gallus gallus domesticus)

The Development of Grooming Behavior in the Domestic Chicken, (Gallus gallus domesticus)

Play behaviour, fear responses and activity levels in commercial broiler chickens provided with preferred environmental enrichments

Activities of chicks in their home cages and in an open field

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