Ethos, UMR 6552- Université de Rennes 1- CNRS, Rennes, France.
UMR 85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, INRA, Nouzilly, France, UMR 6175, CNRS, Nouzilly, France, Université de Tours, Tours, France, IFCE, Nouzilly, France.
PLoS One. 2014 Mar 25;9(3):e93259. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0093259. eCollection 2014.
Numerous aversive events occur in poultry production, and if repeated and unpredictable, can result in an impaired welfare. Some events such as handling can be perceived negatively and it is of interest to understand how humans' behaviour could affect poultry's behaviours and especially its avoidance of humans. Our aim was to evaluate short- and long-lasting effects of a 3-week procedure involving unpredictable repeated negative stimuli (URNS) applied during the post-juvenile period on quail's reactivity to humans. We compared the reactions of two sets of quail: URNS was applied to one set (treated quail) and the other set was left undisturbed (control quail). When two weeks old, treated quail were exposed to a variety of negative stimuli, either applied automatically or involving human presence. One and seven weeks after the termination of the procedure, the reactivity of control and treated quail to a passive human being was evaluated. Furthermore, the experimenter with her hand on a trough containing a mealworm assessed the propensity of quail of both groups to habituate to feed close to a human being. In the presence of a seated observer, treated quail were more inhibited and more alert than control quail. Likewise, seven weeks after the end of the URNS procedure, more treated than control quail adopted a fear posture. Moreover, whereas control quail spent as much time in the different areas of their cages, treated quail spent more time in the rear part of their cages. Finally, whereas control quail habituated gradually to feed near the experimenter's hand, treated quail did not. All these tests evidence negative short- and long-term effects on treated quail's reactivity to a passive human being and on their habituation to a human being when her presence is positively reinforced. This highlights the importance of young poultry's experience with humans in production.
家禽生产中会发生许多令其不适的事件，如果这些事件重复且不可预测，会导致家禽福利受损。一些事件，如处理，可能会被禽类感知为负面的，因此了解人类的行为如何影响家禽的行为，尤其是它们对人类的回避行为，是很有意义的。我们的目的是评估在育雏后期经历 3 周不可预测重复负面刺激（URNS）处理对鹌鹑对人类反应性的短期和长期影响。我们比较了两组鹌鹑的反应：一组（处理组）接受 URNS 处理，另一组（对照组）不受干扰。当鹌鹑两周大时，它们会接触到各种负面刺激，这些刺激可以是自动施加的，也可以涉及到人的存在。在处理结束后的 1 周和 7 周，评估了对照组和处理组鹌鹑对被动人的反应。此外，实验者用手拿着一个装有黄粉虫的槽，评估了两组鹌鹑靠近人进食的习惯化倾向。在坐着的观察者存在的情况下，处理组鹌鹑比对照组鹌鹑更受抑制和警觉。同样，在 URNS 处理结束后的 7 周，更多的处理组鹌鹑采取了恐惧姿势。此外，虽然对照组鹌鹑在其笼子的不同区域花费相同的时间，但处理组鹌鹑在笼子的后部花费更多的时间。最后，对照组鹌鹑逐渐习惯在实验者的手附近进食，而处理组鹌鹑则没有。所有这些测试都证明了 URNS 处理对鹌鹑对被动人的反应性以及它们对积极强化的人的习惯化的短期和长期负面影响。这凸显了家禽在生产过程中与人类的早期经验的重要性。
