Jones R B, Gentle M J
Physiol Behav. 1985 Jun;34(6):917-24. doi: 10.1016/0031-9384(85)90014-9.
Olfactory responsiveness in the female domestic chick was examined in a series of experiments. Individually-housed chicks preferred the familiar soiled substrate from their own home box to that soiled by a strange conspecific and to clean wood litter when placed in an otherwise novel Y maze. An artificial odorant present during the development of group-reared chicks subsequently proved attractive in an otherwise novel and potentially frightening situation. Chicks reared with one of two aromatic oils subsequently discriminated between them and preferred the familiar oil when both were present in the test box. The preferences are likely acquired because naive, one-day-old chicks reacted similarly to wood litter treated with either water or oil. Presence of a familiar rearing odor also reduced fear of a novel open field. In contrast to controls, chicks whose nostrils were blocked prior to rearing with an aromatic oil showed no subsequent preference for this odorant. The present results suggest that domestic chicks can regulate their behavior in response to olfactory cues though trigeminal chemoreception may also be involved.
在一系列实验中，对雌性家鸡的嗅觉反应进行了研究。单独饲养的小鸡在一个全新的Y型迷宫中，比起被陌生同种个体弄脏的垫料以及干净的木屑，更喜欢来自自家饲养箱的熟悉的脏垫料。在群体饲养小鸡发育期间出现的一种人工气味剂，后来在一个全新且可能令人恐惧的环境中被证明具有吸引力。用两种芳香油之一饲养的小鸡，随后能够区分它们，并在测试箱中同时出现这两种油时更喜欢熟悉的那种。这些偏好可能是后天习得的，因为刚孵出一天、未接触过任何东西的小鸡对用水或油处理过的木屑反应相似。熟悉的饲养气味的存在也减少了对新开放场地的恐惧。与对照组相比，在与芳香油一起饲养之前鼻孔被堵塞的小鸡，随后对这种气味剂没有表现出偏好。目前的结果表明，家鸡可以根据嗅觉线索调节其行为，不过三叉神经化学感受可能也参与其中。
