Isolation-induced social pecking in domestic chicks: Contemporary correlates and sequelae

Abstract

Aspects of the social pecking of domestic chicks in a free response situation were examined in a series of experiments. It was proposed that a dual pattern of responses involving (a) a preponderance of pecks at the head of a conspecific, and (b) heightened emotionality (as indicated by the emission of distress calls) might be taken to reflect an aggressive tendency, and evidence was reviewed that showed that a brief period of isolation was a sufficient condition to elicit such a pattern. The main questions asked in this paper are: (a) whether the gender of a chick had a material influence on the incidence of such social pecking, and (b) whether orders established in pecking exchanges reflected a unidimensional social ordering among chicks. In the 1st set of studies the effect of the sex of subject on rates of social pecking was tested. While an isolation procedure clearly produced the dual pattern of heightened head pecking and calling, reliable sex differences were not in evidence. In a 2nd study, concerned with the generality of social orders as observed in social pecking exchanges, the isolation procedure again was sufficient to produce apparently aggressive reactions but the resulting peck orders between chicks did not predict success in later tests when the same 2 subjects were pitted against one another in either approach or avoidance competitive tasks. These results are discussed in terms of the relationship of infant aggression to adult aggression, and suggestions are made for a revised view of the development of the aggressive behavior of fowl.