Acoustic Signals in Domestic Chicken (<i>Gallus gallus</i>): A Tool for Teaching Veterinary Ethology and Implication for language learning

Abstract

In this study chicken were able to express about 30 sounds (Words/ syllables) of which 19 were distinctly identified as : warning , alarm , contact, territorial, laying, nesting, mating, threat, submissive, distress, fear , contentment, food, dust bathing, perching, battle cries, privacy, dominance and time calls. And short sentences (A combination of two and three syllables/ cackle). There were also some sounds that were not deciphered. Local chicken have had a good sense of hearing to these sounds as observed from postural, visual and auditory displays. It was found that baby chicks from broody and non broody breeds responded to the acoustic stimulus. While the adults of the commercial breed, did not respond to the acoustic stimulus, showed less motor reactions, postural and vocal displays. Also they produced less syllables. It was concluded that they do not know the language. The songram indicate that chicken produced sound frequency ranging from 50Hz to 10 kHz, this hearing range is within the hearing realm of humans which is 20-20,000Hz. Thus, Birdsong can be used as a biological model of human language, and acoustic communication in chicken can be demonstrated to students without the requirement of special apparatus. The results showed the usefulness of the chicken model in teaching acoustic communication, animal behavior and the importance of imprinting in language learning.

Vocalisation sound pattern identification in young broiler chickens

“…The global production of broiler chickens is estimated to be of the order of 61 billion animal slaughtered per year according to FAOSTAT 2015; 70% of world production of broiler chickens is 'industrialised' (Steinfeld et al, 2006;Tefera, 2012), that is, reared in closed housing systems provided with artificial lighting and under a timed lighting programme (Appleby et al, 1992;Weeks and Butterworth, 2004). Chicken health, welfare and growth performance is dependent on human management, environmental management, genetics, nutritional and disease factors (Yahav et al, 2005;Buijs et al, 2009;Kenny et al, 2012).…”

“…Assessment of behaviours may provide indirect evidence of how an animal 'feels' (Dawkins, 2004). Animals use vocalisations to express different conditions such as: warning, alarm, social contact, territorial, laying, nesting, mating, threat, submissive, distress, fear, contentment, food, dust bathing, perching, battle cries, privacy, dominance and time calls (Manteuffel et al, 2004;Tefera, 2012;Vandermeulen et al, 2015). One of the potential ways to assess an animal's health and welfare status is the analysis of audio and video to identify behaviours, vocal and other sound producing behaviours.…”

“…Hearing is an important sense for birds; they are sensitive to a frequency range of about 60 to 11 950 Hz (Appleby et al, 1992;Tefera, 2012).…”

“…In the wild, chicks which have just hatched are able to identify their mother and their siblings (Appleby et al, 1992;Nakamori et al, 2013); 1-day-old chicks can recognise and discriminate maternal vocalisations from sounds emitted by other conspecifics (Ferrante and Lolli, 2009;Tefera, 2012). Social behaviour is the behaviour displayed by animals in relation to other animals, and social interaction in chicks is likely to be important for group development.…”

“…Principal objectives of precision livestock farming (PLF) include the development of automatic on-line monitoring tools to monitor animals' behaviours and their biological responses to external stimuli such as changes in house environment conditions, or to occurrence of disease (Tefera, 2012). The analysis of images and sound, can be carried out in comparatively non-invasive ways using PLF methods, and, when compared to direct human visual observation, may be less time consuming (Aydin et al, 2014;Fontana et al, 2014).…”