Do colours affect 'normal' behaviour of laboratory and farm animals? Instantaneous change of behaviour by presentation of red in the Peach-F.

In spite of genetic and environmental standardisation in farm and laboratory animal science, a considerable amount of variation in the results of comparable experiments remains. This presumably depends upon the individual variability within a species, and upon differences of various species in their specific demands to the environment in captivity. Due to a discovery in the Southwest-African lovebird species Agapornis roseicollis, used as a conventional laboratory animal in bioacoustic research, the phenomenon of instantaneous fear expressed in a number of different displays in connection with the presence or presentation of red objects is described and compared to earlier observations of instantaneous phobias, aggressions, and preferences towards colours, in other bird species. Consequently it is suggested that investigation of the chromatophobe and chromatophile behaviour of typical laboratory and farm animals be undertaken to ensure the adequate design of lodging and experimental environments.