Today
I would like to share about chicken behavioral patterns. I am just interested
to talk about it. Sometimes I am curious and ask to myself about what chicken
is doing, does it have a meaning or no? So I browsed the net and yes, I found
some information of it. And here it is.
Ethology
is study of animal behavioral patterns or the study of the behavior of animal
in their natural habit, usually proposing evolutionary explanations. That
behavior means the expression of animal that poured into moves on consequence
of stimulation (Prijono and Handini, 1998). The stimulation is coming from the body
inside and outside of animal (Scott, 1969). The outside stimulation could be
sound, view, mechanical energy, and chemical stimulus, whereas inside stimulation
could be factors of hormone secretion, and motivation (Mukhtar, 1986). Hailman
(1985) revealed that animal behavioral patterns have divided into eight
categories. Those are acted of moving (fly, jump, walk), kept the body, ate,
resisted, sexualized, nested, mothered, and interspecific behavior. And here I
just get down about eating, drinking, sleeping, and pecking behavior of
chicken.
The
first is about eating behavior in chicken. Eating behavior of fowls is influenced
by the length of daylight, and the social environment around. Chickens cannot
eat within dark situation or if the length daylight is short (Morris, 1967). Metabolic
rate of fowls is faster than others animals, therefore the lack nutrition in
their food will stand out (Welty, 1979). Eating behavior is also influenced by
temperature, and other activities of chickens. When the temperature increases,
the fowls will retard the speed of metabolism by decreasing appetite in order
to establish a normal temperature in their body (Priyanto, 2002).
Secondly,
drinking behavior has close related to eating behavior. There are many factors
that influence fowls to consume water; those are temperature, water temperature,
the level of consumptive food, and body size (Bailey, 1990; Wandoyo, 1997). In
the tropic, chicken can consume 500 ml/day (Williamson and Payne, 2003). When chicken
drinks water, chicken let its beak down, and then its maw slopes as well as
raises its head on the back (Sparks and Andrew, 1982).
Thirdly
is sleeping behavior of fowls. Sleeping activity is necessary for chicken to
keep and cool down the body from exhaustion. Chicken usually sleeps in position
the body falls down along with chest adheres and the eyes closed during 30
seconds on minimum (Mayes, 1983).
Pecking
behavior is term on a day to day basis for social organization hierarchy system
of chicken. This behavior revealed for the first time by Thorlief
Schjelderup-Ebbe in 1921 (Wikipedia, 2012). Pecking behavior has classification
as cannibalism (Savory, 1995). Pecking activity with higher frequency can be
happened because the stall density is near with its food. Pecking activity of
hen is visible often on battery-stall, because it is easy to keep its body
cleaned by sweeping with its beak. (Appleby at al, 1992). The fowls do an
activity such as threaten, fight, and flee by pecking (Hailman, 1985). Pecking
activity shows also dominance and attacker characteristics (Appleby at al.,
1992).
