IFM Biology, AVIAN Behaviour Genomics and Physiology Group, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
PLoS One. 2023 Jun 23;18(6):e0287213. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0287213. eCollection 2023.
Prosocial behaviour is pronounced in humans and prevalent in some non-human animals, however, the occurrence of the trait in chickens has not yet been investigated. Here, we studied the occurrence of prosociality in four different lines of adult female chickens. To explore the effects of domestication, chickens of the domesticated layer White Leghorn (WL) and the ancestral Red Junglefowl (RJF) were compared. Additionally, to explore the role of tameness, Red Junglefowl selected for high (RJF HF), or low (RJF LF) fear of humans were also studied. The hens were all tested in a prosocial choice task adapted from a previous study conducted on rats. Each individual was first trained to differentiate between a compartment where itself and a companion received food treats simultaneously (representing a prosocial choice), and one where only itself received the treat. Following training, each bird was tested in a free-choice set-up. No occurrence of prosociality was found at group level in any of the lines, however, our results suggest that the trait may occur in some individuals, and that domestication and increased tameness may have increased its prevalence, although alternative explanations such as side bias and social competition cannot be ruled out. Since this study is the first of its kind, further research is required to make any definite conclusions.
亲社会行为在人类和一些非人类动物中表现明显，但鸡是否存在这种行为尚未得到研究。本研究在 4 个不同的成年母鸡品系中研究了亲社会性的发生。为了探索驯化的影响，比较了驯化的蛋鸡品种白来航鸡（WL）和原始红原鸡（RJF）。此外，为了探索温顺性的作用，还研究了选择温顺性高（RJF HF）或低（RJF LF）的红原鸡。母鸡均在一项源自先前在大鼠中进行的研究的亲社会选择任务中进行测试。首先，每个个体都被训练区分同时有自己和同伴接受食物奖励的隔间（代表亲社会选择）和只有自己接受奖励的隔间。训练后，每个鸟类都在自由选择设置中进行测试。在任何系中，都没有在群体水平上发现亲社会性的发生，但我们的结果表明，该特征可能在某些个体中出现，而且驯化和增加温顺性可能增加了其出现的频率，尽管不能排除侧偏和社会竞争等替代解释。由于这是此类研究中的首例，需要进一步研究才能得出任何明确的结论。
