Researchers Discover Young Chicks Spends a Lot of Time Playing in Different Ways

Although many of us are familiar that pets, like dogs and cats, display a variety of emotions, many poultry farmers are surprised to learn that chickens are also emotionally sensitive, intelligent animals.

There may be suspicion, denial, or at the very least a raised eyebrow when someone mentions that broilers being sent to the slaughterhouse have complex feelings.

For the first time, researchers have charted the growth of play in young chickens.

The findings indicated that young chicks spend a lot of time engaging in various forms of play.

Young chickens' behavior reveals their emotion

(Photo : Zoe Schaeffer/Unspalsh)

The researchers observed the behavior of the young hens on film and counted 14 different types of play.

For instance, the young chicks engaged in play fighting by jumping and slamming their chests against one another, or they chased one another around while carrying objects in their beaks, as per ScienceDaily.

Around six to seven weeks of age, just before the young chicks would have become independent of their parents in the wild, the intensity of the play peaked.

Scientists found that both wil and domesticated chickens played in the same manner. Therefore, despite nearly 10,000 years of domestication, their play habits remained unchanged.

The young, domesticated chickens played, though, much more than their parents did.

This backed up the idea that domestication frequently results in animals behaving more naively, according to Rebecca Oscarsson, a master's student who participated in the study.

The idea was that early stress would decrease the young hens' propensity to play.

Instead, the researchers witnessed the exact opposite.

Anxious animals may have an unfulfilled demand for a way to express themselves positively.

Gabrielle Lundén, who was also a master's student during the experiment, claimed that it will be up to study further to demonstrate that.

According to Per Jensen, animals utilize play to enhance their quality of life and to express their emotions.

Also Read: Who You Calling Bird-Brained? Chickens Smarter, More Self-Aware than Previously Thought

Emotions chicken commonly feel

Chickens can get frustrated, just like people and other mammals can.

For instance, anything can be preventing them from reaching their preferred location. Or something they've been keeping an eye on vanishes from view, as per Hobby Farms.

Students taking part in a University of Adelaide study found that frustration was among the most recognizable emotional states they saw in hens.

Chickens can detect social signs from one another and can use these cues to empathize with a bird who is sad or experiencing another negative feeling.

Furthermore, chickens can react appropriately in significant conditions and situations thanks to this emotional contagion.

Dr. Lori Marino of the Kimmela Center for Animal Advocacy in Kanab, Utah, asserted that hens engage in social behavior that has Machiavellian characteristics.

This indicates that they can plan, influence, and commit fraud inside their social system to further their interests.

In flocks with a dominant male and one or even more subordinates, this is regularly seen.

A subordinate might bide his time, for example, by watching for the alpha bird to become preoccupied before calling hens to share the scraps he has found.

When the dominant bird reappears, he will immediately return to the subordinate vocalizations.

Chickens respond to learned cues with anticipation, according to a study done by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

The hens learned to distinguish between three noises as a result of the study. One indicated a tasty treat. A water gun squirt was the outcome of another.

A third produced no results. The hens quickly began to react to the threat cue with keen expectation. But in response to the squirt-gun trigger, they demonstrated anxious behaviors, such as pacing and flinching motion.

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