Reflectance of Chicken Feathers in Relation to Sex-Linked Coloration

Abstract

Reflectance spectra of down feathers from the heads of color-sexed chicks from broiler and layer strains were measured with a fiber-optic spectrophotometer. For both strains, the maximum divergence between sexes was at 350 nm (for broilers and layers respectively, t = 10 and t = 5, P<.005, n = 20) but significant divergence continued into the blue part of the spectrum (to around 500 nm). Mature feathers from Light Sussex (white), Rhode Island Red (red-brown), and Bantam (pale and dark bars on feathers) birds were measured as examples of deeper or more highly contrasting pigmentation. Divergences between spectra were found at higher wavelengths for the adult feathers than for color-sexed chick feathers (at 530 nm for white vs. red-brown, and around 700 nm for pale vs. dark bars. (

Behavioral Discrimination in Chicken Flocks: A Camera-Based Movement Analysis for Distinguishing Normal and Scared Behaviors

“…Our proposed system comprises a hardware camera equipped with a 470 nm bandpass lens, chosen for its ability to facilitate image processing with satisfactory outcomes. This selection is based on numerous prior studies indicating that the 470 nm bandpass lens yields the most discriminative values in chicken feather hyperspectral responses [8], [12], [19]. While it may not match the precision of convolutional neural networks and their derivatives when well-trained, this hardware setup provides computable results suitable for the procedural system process, particularly in simplifying thresholding image processing.…”