Lecture 32 Flashcards
Why did we domesticate poultry?
Food source
- Meat, eggs
Clothing
- Feathers, leather
Other
- Companionship
- Ornamental
- Fighting
What are the sexual preferences of avian species?
Differs:
Polygamous - use in commersical so we dont need as many males
- chickens, turkeys, pheasants, ostriches, reas
Monogamous
- Geese (polygamous in commercial), quail, emu, pigeons, ducks, partridges, grouse, guinea fowl
What is the group structure like in avian species?
Large groups for at least part of the year (don’t stay in groups during breeding to avoid inbreeding)
* ostrich
Solitary (come together during breeding)
* Pheasants
What is the composition and structure of social groups in Red Jungle Fowl?
Flocks between 4 and 30 – mixed sex
* Harem polygynous species with a dominant male todefend the boundaries
May be small all-male flocks in the wild - protection, finding food
How does incubation and guarding of offspring differ between avian species?
Males
* Emus, rhea
Male and female
* Ostriches, bobwhite quail, geese
Female
* Chickens, mallard ducks, grouse, turkeys
What is the social structure like in chickens?
Dominant male
* Tolerant of other young males
* NOT tolerant of oler males (because of competition and injury)
Females in the flock
* Cominance hierarchy (suppression)
What are the behaviours exhibited by chickens during breeding season?
Males attempt to intimidate males and attract females
* Males - wings flapping, preening, tail wagging, tit-biting/cornering, waltzing
* Females - crouching
What are the winter months like for wild turkeys?
- Either sex separate or mixed sexfamily groups
- male flocks - siblings that remain together for their lifetime (brother bands)
- female flocks - from various groups
- Dominance hierarchies both male and female groups
What happens during breeding season all the time and sometimes in wild turkeys?
Usually:
* Males compete to gain dominance
* Mate with females which gather at central area
* Dominant gets the most matings
Sometimes:
* May have a harem polygenous mating system where one male has 4 to 6 females
In commercial AI is used
What does space in the wild depend on?
- resources
- group size
- shelter
How far can the jungle fowl, turkeys, and quails travel?
- Jungle fowl - 50km
- Turkeys - 8-16kn, up to 32km in winter
- Quail - 80 km in winter
How is vision important in chickens?
- better than human vision
- avoiding predators
What does commercial production have to consider with the vision of chickens?
- Daylength
- Light intensity
- Light colour
What signals do chickens use to communicate?
- Postures - display threat and submission - raise hackle feathers
vocalization - 31 calls in chickens, 15 in quails
* crowing - territorial control (only dominant male)
- crowing frequency correlated with comb length
- males use crowing to asses dominance of other males
What are the morphological features of chickens, quail, and turkeys?
- Chickens - comb size
- Quail - large numbers of sexually dimorphic feathers around head and neck
- Turkeys - necks are featherless, snood (grows when female is near), caruncles, colour, puff up feathers