Poultry Behaviour Flashcards
what was poultry domesticated for
food (meat and eggs)
clothing (feathers)
other (companionship, ornamental, fighting)
what are the sexual preferences of chickens
polygamous - do not need as many males
(chickens, turkeys, pheasants, ostriches, rheas)
monogamous - geese, quail, emu, pigeons, ducks, partridges, grouse, guinea fowl
what type of group structure
large groups for at least part of the year (ostrich)
solitary (pheasants)
which group has males taking care of offspring
emus and rhea
which group has male and females taking care of offspring
ostriches, bobwhite quail, geese
which has only females taking care of young
chickens, mallard ducks grouse and turkeys
what is the social structure
dominant males are tolerant of other young males (to allow them until they become a threat)
not tolerant of older males
females in the flock have a dominance hierarchy
what is breeding season like
Males attempt to intimidate males and attract females
wing flapping, preening, tail wagging tit biting/ cornering waltzing
females - crouching
breeding season usually …
males compete to gain dominance
mate with females which gather at central area
cominante gets the most matings
1 male can have 4-6 females
what does space depend on
food availability, mating and predators
how is their vision
better than humans
commercial production means care should be taken with
daylength, light intensity, light colour
how does communication get displayed
through signals - postures, signal threat and submission
vocalizations - crowing, frequency correlated with comb length - used to assert dominance
how can cohesion be effected
habitat roosting sites, food sources
what types of communication is there
male to male - for dominance
male to female - for mating
mother to offspring
siblings - hatching synchrony in precocial birds
low frequency delays and clicking advances
what are the social groupings in laying hens
primarily housed in groups of 3-60 in cages or barns with 1000s of birds in one open area
canada - codes of practice requires swutch to either free run (open barns 5000+ hens) or enriched hoursing (cages with furniture 20-60 hens usually)
by 2036 they have so phase out conventional cages
how do laying hens interact
interaction between social rank, aggression, feeding behaviour and egg production
many selected strains can be quite aggressive
hens like to feed close to each other and synchronize each other
why are broilers given feed restrictions
if dominant birds successfully beat out subordiante birds they become fat, and subordinates this - effecting egg production on both sides
how does the hierarchy effect social behaviours
subordinates show a delay in sexual maturity
high ranking males mate more
these factors might mean there are some females who are never mated in a breeding
why let females see males
lay earlier when they see and hear males
egg production higher in turkeys if they can see and hear males
how do you group animals
birds dont like unfarmiliar birds
not common to remix most laying hens
when this has been tested, hens will mix unfamiliar hens after onlt a few hours
what dominance problems may occur
pecking chasinf and fighting between males mostly, but females can also demonstrate this
can lead injury
turkeys can lead to death
what abnormal behaviours can be seen
pulling of feathers
cloacal pecking (results in death )
canabolism
