Poultry Behavior

- Behaviour is the way that animals respond to the different stimuli they encounter in their
environment. The stimuli may be from other birds, their environment, people or any other thing
or occurrence.
 Behavior is the way an organism interacts with other organisms and its environment.
Anything in the environment that causes a reaction is called a stimulus.

Innate Behavior - the bird’s genetic make-up has an important influence on its reaction to any stimuli.
Some strains are more docile than others and this characteristic responds to selection pressure. In a
similar way, fowl can be selected for a number of behavioral characteristics, some considered to be
quite important in their management.

 A behavior that an organism is born with is called an innate behavior. This type of behavior
is inherited. They don’t have to be learned. Innate behavior patterns occur the first time an
animal responds to a particular internal or external stimulus. For birds like the “sayaw” and
the hummingbird in building a nest is innate behavior.
- Dustbathing is one these instinctive behavioral needs where birds can crouch down or lie on the
ground and throw dust through their feathers.
 This is important in order to clean and maintain the feathers in good condition. If birds
are unable to perform dustbathing, they can become frustrated and stressed and also
have poor plumage condition.
- Hens also have a behavioral need to lay their eggs in a secluded area.
- Laying hens show a strong motivation to be able to perch, particularly at night, where they
prefer to roost up higher.
- Foraging behaviour such as food searching, ground pecking, and ground scratching.
 The fowls’ ability to be able to forage can also prevent detrimental behaviour such as
feather pecking, where the birds can pull each other’s feathers out.

Learned behavior – While much of their behaviour is innate, there is that which has to be learned.
Chickens know instinctively how to eat, but they do not know what to eat or where to find it.

 While much of the fowls’ behaviour is inherent, they do need to learn in order to
survive. Individuals will copy others, and this is an important part of the learning
process. When a bird sees another pecking at something, it will copy, thus learning what
to eat, and where to find food (and water).
 In the natural situation, the hen teaches her brood what to eat and where to find it.
 Another example of learned behavior is quail
- Learning is important for animals because it allows them to respond to changing situations. In
changing environments, animals that have the ability to learn a new behavior are more likely to
survive.

Reproductive Behavior– The hen is a seasonal breeder and is secretive about its nesting site.

 The male mates regularly with the hen and also acts as an escort to and from the nest.
On hatching, the chickens rapidly imprint (bond) onto the hen. They move about with
her, initially staying quite close and are brooded very often. As they grow and their need
 for brooding diminishes, they range further and further from the hen. Her brood remain
living on the ground until the chickens are about 6 weeks of age when the hen re-
commences to roost, encouraging the chickens to join her. When the chickens are about
10 to 12 weeks old, she starts the weaning process by driving the chickens from her.
When they are weaned by about 16 to 18 weeks the hen re-joins the harem and the
chickens join the juvenile flock.
 Courtship behaviors allow male and female members of a species to recognize each
other. These behaviors also stimulate males and females, so they are ready to mate at
the same time. This helps ensure reproductive success.
 In most species the males are more colorful and perform courtship displays to attract a
mate. Some courtship behaviors allow males and females to find each other across
distances.

Social Behavior – Fowls are a gregarious species with an elaborate social behaviour based on a definite
group structure when kept in flocks.

 Fowls are a gregarious species with an elaborate social behaviour based on a definite
group structure when kept in flocks. They maintain personal space by communication
via postural changes. Important signals are associated with the position of the head and
the relative angles of the head and the body to other birds. They maintain contact with
flock mates by sight up to intermediate distances and by vocal communication at longer
distances or if out of sight.

Feeding Behavior - Foraging such as food searching, ground pecking, and ground scratching.

 At hatching, chickens inherently know how to peck, and they can pick up objects to eat.
However, they do not know how to discriminate between what they should or should not
eat.
 Foraging involves activities such as ground pecking, scratching and locomotor activities that
might result in the acquisition of food or water. And The fowls’ ability to be able to forage
can also prevent detrimental behaviour such as feather pecking, where the birds can pull
each other’s feathers out and might injure one another.

Sleeping Behavior – Fowl’s show a strong motivation to be able to perch, particularly at night, where
they prefer to roost up higher.

 The desire to roost or perch above the ground is an inherent protective mechanism against
ground predators.
 Chickens have a desire to roost. At about three weeks of age, chicks start to jump up to
higher surfaces. The structure of a chicken’s claws ensures a firm grip while the chicken is
perching and will prevent the chicken from falling off a tree branch, even when the bird is
asleep.

Environment - the environment plays an important part in the way chickens respond or behave. High
light intensity tends to increase activity which is a beneficial response in very young chickens in
encouraging them to seek food and water. However, in older birds it can lead to harmful behaviour such
as cannibalism.

 Environmental enrichment is important for the birds, to enhance their behavioral repertoire
and also to prevent detrimental behaviour from occurring.
Laying hens have a range of instinctive behavioral needs that are important for their
wellbeing. Housing should be constructed and maintained in order to cater for these
behavioral needs and ensure that the birds are healthy and that their needs are met.
Dustbathing is one these instinctive behavioral needs where birds can crouch down
or lie on the ground and throw dust through their feathers. This is important in order
to clean and maintain the feathers in good condition. If birds are unable to perform
dustbathing, they can become frustrated and stressed and also have poor plumage
condition. To allow birds to perform dustbathing, it is important to provide them
with the appropriate flooring material, such as sand, peat moss or even dirt. It is
also important that the litter is an adequate depth to allow dustbathing so there
should be a minimum of about 5cm. Their litter should also be maintained in a dry
and friable condition.

Hens also have a behavioral need to lay their eggs in a secluded area. So, birds
should have access to a secluded area with soft bedding materials for the nest.
They are more likely to lay in this area if it is darker than the surrounding areas.

Laying hens show a strong motivation to be able to perch, particularly at night,

Even if the birds’ nutritional requirements are met through the diet, they still show
the need to perform foraging behaviour such as food searching, ground pecking,
and ground scratching. These behaviour can be encouraged by the provision of
adequate litter such as wood shavings or straw. The birds’ ability to be able to
forage can also prevent detrimental behaviour such as feather pecking, where the
birds can pull each other’s feathers out.

Chickens will form social hierarchies, or ‘pecking orders’ in groups. There may be
some aggression associated with the establishment and maintenance of a social
hierarchy. But if aggression is noticed for a long period of time and the birds
become stressed or injured, such as feather loss around the neck, face and head
regions, or there are injuries around the comb and wattle, it may be necessary to
separate these birds at least temporarily. However, it should be remembered that
chickens are social animals and, isolation can cause them stress so they should be
able to at least see and hear other birds.
Environmental enrichment is important for the birds, to enhance their behavioral
repertoire and also to prevent detrimental behaviour from occurring. When talking
about welfare issues associated with laying hens, you really need to talk about the
different production systems. In Australia, there are two main types of housing
systems. These are cage and non-cage. They both have their unique benefits and
drawbacks. The benefits of cage systems are that there are smaller group sizes,
which allows easier monitoring. And there’s also a lower risk of transmission of
socially transmitted behaviour such as feather pecking and cannibalism. There can
be a lower transmission of diseases in this system as well. Some of the obvious
drawbacks associated with cage production include the severely limited behavioral
expression. Birds can’t really perform dustbathing behaviour, foraging behaviour,
exploration, perching or nesting. In non-cage systems, some of the welfare benefits
include: an increased behavioral repertoire; birds are able to express those sorts of
behaviour, so foraging, exploration, social interactions. Larger group sizes mean
that there’s a higher risk of transmission of social behaviour such as feather
pecking, cannibalism. If the birds have access to the outside, there can also be an
increased risk of disease and predation. Although each production system has its
own positives and negatives, it’s really dependent on the management in each farm
as stockman ship has a huge impact on animal welfare. From a purely economic
point of view, it can be easier to control the cost of production in cage egg systems.
So, consumers need to decide how much they’re willing to spend and which system
they’re willing to support.