Saturday 19 May 2012

Listening to Chickens Could Improve Poultry Production



ScienceDaily (May 16, 2012) — Chickens can't speak, but they can definitely make themselves heard. Most people who have visited a poultry farm will recall chicken vocalization -- the technical term for clucking and squawking -- as a memorable part of the experience.

Researchers now believe that such avian expressiveness may be more than idle chatter. A collaborative project being conducted by the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia is investigating whether the birds' volubility can provide clues to how healthy and comfortable they are.

And that could be valuable information. Economically, chickens rule the roost in Georgia, where poultry is the top agricultural product with an estimated annual impact of nearly $20 billion statewide. There is industry concern about the welfare of the animals they raise; anything that helps growers reap a maximum return on every flock -- while maintaining an environment conducive to their well-being -- can translate to important dividends for the state's economy.

"Many poultry professionals swear they can walk into a grow-out house and tell whether a flock is happy or stressed just by listening to the birds vocalize," said Wayne Daley, a Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) principal research scientist who is leading the research. "The trouble is, it has proved hard for these pros to pinpoint for us exactly what it is that they're hearing."

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