Gall Gabriella E C, Letherbarrow Megan, Strandburg-Peshkin Ariana, Radford Andrew N, Madden Joah R
Zukunftskolleg, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
R Soc Open Sci. 2024 Aug 14;11(8):240114. doi: 10.1098/rsos.240114. eCollection 2024 Aug.
The soundscape experienced by animals early in life can affect their behaviour later in life. For birds, sounds experienced in the egg can influence how individuals learn to respond to specific calls post-hatching. However, how early acoustic experiences affect subsequent social behaviour remains unknown. Here, we investigate how exposure to maternal 'cluck' calls pre-hatching affects the behaviour of domestic chickens () at 3-5 days and 17-21 days old. We incubated eggs and played cluck calls to half of them. After hatching, we raised chicks in small groups occupying different enclosures. At 3-5 days old, we tested chicks' responses to three stimuli: (i) background sound, (ii) chick calls and (iii) cluck calls. We found that the pre-hatching experience of cluck calls reduced the likelihood of moving in response to all three stimuli. At 17-21 days old, some chicks explored beyond their own enclosure and 'visited' other groups. Chicks exposed to cluck calls before hatching were three times more likely to enter another group's enclosure than control chicks, and this was unaffected by the chicks' social connectedness. Our results indicate age- and context-dependent responses of chicks to pre-hatching cluck-call playbacks, with potential long-term effects on individual social behaviour.
动物在生命早期所经历的声景会影响它们日后的行为。对于鸟类来说，在蛋中所经历的声音会影响个体在孵化后学习如何对特定叫声做出反应。然而，早期的声学体验如何影响随后的社会行为仍然未知。在这里，我们研究孵化前接触母鸡的“咯咯”叫声如何影响3至5日龄和17至21日龄家鸡（）的行为。我们孵化鸡蛋，并对其中一半播放咯咯叫声。孵化后，我们将小鸡分成小组饲养在不同的围栏中。在3至5日龄时，我们测试了小鸡对三种刺激的反应：（i）背景声音，（ii）小鸡叫声和（iii）咯咯叫声。我们发现，孵化前对咯咯叫声的体验降低了对所有三种刺激做出反应而移动的可能性。在17至21日龄时，一些小鸡会探索到自己围栏之外并“拜访”其他组。孵化前接触咯咯叫声的小鸡进入另一组围栏的可能性是对照小鸡的三倍，并且这不受小鸡社会联系的影响。我们的结果表明，小鸡对孵化前咯咯叫声回放的反应取决于年龄和情境，对个体社会行为可能有长期影响。
