Conspecific discrimination and social preference in the laying hen

Bradshaw, R.H.

doi:10.1016/s0168-1591(05)80086-3

Cited by 62 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The results agreed with those of Dawkins (1983) using a behavioural demand approach that showed that although hens preferred litter to wire floors, their preference for litter was not strong enough to outweigh the attraction of food. While some studies have indicated that domestic hens have a strong preference to be near familiar hens over unfamiliar hens (Hughes 1977;Bradshaw 1992), the strength of the preference for social contact has not been studied. However, if, as mentioned earlier, food is generally assumed to generate the maximal response or preference in most cases (i.e.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining the usefulness of a Y-maze choice method to measure the preferences of laying hens

Arnold

Hemsworth²

2013

Anim. Prod. Sci.

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Abstract. Measurement of animal preferences can be used as an indirect, but persuasive, method for assessing animal welfare on the basis that preferences may identify resources and behaviours that might be important to animals. The present experiment examined the usefulness of a Y-maze methodology, incorporating alteration of motivational state through prior restriction of resources of potentially differing value in assessing and understanding animal preferences. The choice behaviour of laying hens for feed, a dustbath substrate (sawdust; 'dust') and social contact was measured under three pairwise comparisons in a Y-maze apparatus. In each of the three experiments, 48 birds (HyLine Brown Strain; n = 24 per experiment) were offered a choice of two resources in a Y-maze test, with one of the three possible resource pairings. In each experiment, after Y-maze training, an equal number of birds was deprived in a factorial design of Resource 1, Resource 2, both, or neither resource. Analysis of choices over 24 trials per bird in each experiment revealed that birds preferred feed over social contact or dust, irrespective of restriction of any of these resources, and further, were quicker (P < 0.01) to make feed choices than dust or social-contact choices. In the social contact and dust comparison, restriction of dust significantly (P < 0.05) increased choice for dust in the 24 trials (38 vs 53% dust choice), suggesting that dust restriction increased the birds' motivation to access dust. This result potentially highlights the impact of the resource of comparison in pairwise tests on overall choice response to restriction. The inclusion of measurements of speed of movement through the Y maze proved a useful aspect of the methodology, providing results consistent with choice behaviour in all three experiments. Although overall choices for dust and social contact were not significantly (P = 0.328) different from random, birds were quicker (P < 0.05) to make dust choices than social-contact choices, suggesting that speed of choice may be a particularly sensitive correlate of current motivation levels. The consistency of results across these experiments, together with results reported in the literature on laying-hen preferences, suggests that the methodology is a promising option for assessing the relative preference for resources for laying hens. Additional evidence, particularly on the occurrence of abnormal behaviour, stress physiology and health, when restricted of the resource of interest is necessary to provide a more comprehensive assessment of the impact of the restriction on animal welfare.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining the usefulness of a Y-maze choice method to measure the preferences of laying hens

Arnold

Hemsworth²

2013

Anim. Prod. Sci.

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“…The classic example is in studies of individual, kin or species discrimination, where different unconditional responses may be made to images of apparently similar objects (e.g. Bradshaw, 1992;Guzman & Marin, 2008;Hansen, Johannessen & Slagsvold, 2008), or an unconditional response may be habituated to exemplars of one set of images, and then dishabituation can be seen when an exemplar of a different category is presented.…”

Section: What Can Picture Set Discrimination Tell Us About How Birds mentioning

confidence: 99%

What's the use of Picture Discrimination Experiments.

Lea¹

2010

CCBR

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“…In birds, the ability to discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar conspecifics has been the subject of numerous studies (Bradshaw, 1991(Bradshaw, , 1992Dawkins, 1996;Hauser & Huber-Eicher, 2004;Ryan & Lea, 1994;Väisänen & Jensen, 2004). Nonetheless, the influence of factors which may affect individual discrimination, such as social motivation (i.e., the motivation to seek close proximity with conspecifics), age and duration of contact have rarely been investigated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social motivation affects the display of individual discrimination in young and adult japanese quail(Coturnix japonica)

Schweitzer¹,

Poindron²,

Arnould³

2009

Developmental Psychobiology

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A simultaneous two-choice test was used to investigate discrimination between a familiar (F) and an unfamiliar conspecific (U) in Japanese quail, selected for high (HSR) or low (LSR) social reinstatement behavior (tendency to rejoin and stay close to conspecifics). Animals were 1-week unsexed and 6-week-old male quail. One-week-old LSR quail and 6-week-old male HSR quail displayed discrimination after 24 hr of pair contact (p < 0.05), and a tendency to discriminate (p < 0.10) was found in adult male LSR quail. After 1 week of pair contact, results were similar in LSR quail chicks, but no discrimination was evidenced in adult quail of either line. Therefore, Japanese quail are able to discriminate between a familiar cagemate and an unfamiliar conspecific after only 24 hr of pair contact. Moreover, this study reveals for the first time in this species that social motivation and age both influence the display of individual discrimination.

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Conspecific discrimination and social preference in the laying hen

Cited by 62 publications

References 21 publications

Examining the usefulness of a Y-maze choice method to measure the preferences of laying hens

Examining the usefulness of a Y-maze choice method to measure the preferences of laying hens

What's the use of Picture Discrimination Experiments.

Social motivation affects the display of individual discrimination in young and adult japanese quail(Coturnix japonica)

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