New Study Reveals Humans Can Understand Chicken Emotions: Implications for Poultry Welfare
A recent study conducted in Australia has shed light on humans’ surprising ability to understand the emotions of chickens. The findings could have significant implications for improving poultry welfare in the industry. The research, which has been published in the Royal Society Open Science, shows that humans are adept at discerning chicken calls, particularly when it comes to determining whether the birds are about to receive a reward or simply having an ordinary day.
To conduct the study, researchers first trained twelve 18-week-old ISA Brown hens to associate a specific noise with the anticipation of food, using a technique called Pavlovian conditioning. They then recorded the hens’ calls when they expected a reward or during control treatments that were unrelated to rewards. The team classified these calls as the ‘food’ call and the ‘fast cluck’ when the hens anticipated food, and the ‘whine’ and ‘gakel’ call (specific to frustrations in laying hens) in non-rewarding contexts.
The researchers then presented audio recordings of these calls to 194 human participants to test their ability to differentiate between reward and non-reward calls. The participants were asked to assess whether the vocalizing chickens were experiencing pleasure or displeasure, as well as high or low excitement. The results showed that 69% of participants accurately distinguished reward and non-reward calls, with slightly better categorization of reward-related calls overall.
This study adds to a growing body of research demonstrating humans’ aptitude for understanding emotions across various animal species. It suggests that there are similarities in how emotional states are conveyed acoustically and perceived by humans, even in more distantly related species such as birds, reptiles, and amphibians.
The implications of this study for poultry welfare are significant. The researchers believe that the ability of a substantial proportion of participants to recognize calls produced in reward-related contexts highlights the potential for individuals involved in chicken husbandry to assess the emotional state of the birds they care for, even without prior experience. This understanding can contribute to the development of improved animal welfare practices within the poultry industry.
Professor Joerg Henning, a veterinary epidemiologist from the University of Queensland overseeing the study, commented on the findings, stating, Our hope is that future research can identify specific acoustic cues that predict how humans perceive arousal in chicken calls. These results could potentially be utilized in artificially intelligent-based detection systems to monitor vocalizations in chickens. This would allow for the development of automated assessments of the birds’ welfare within poultry management systems, distinguishing compromised from good welfare states.
As scientists continue to delve into animal emotions and communication, this study emphasizes the importance of considering emotional well-being in animal welfare. By better understanding the emotions of chickens and other animals, we can work towards creating environments that promote healthier and happier lives for them.
