Abstract
It has long been known that odors and olfaction play a major role in behavioral development and expression in animals. The sense of smell is employed in numerous contexts, such as foraging, mate choice, and predation risk assessment. Indeed, olfaction is the primary sensory modality for most mammals, and many domestic species kept by humans, including chickens (1). Odors are therefore likely to influence many of the handling and management procedures carried out with animals, whether on farms, in zoos, in the laboratory, or in the family home. Despite this, applied ethologists and animal welfare scientists have not to any great extent investigated chemosensory perception or included odors in their studies.
Highlights
It has long been known that odors and olfaction play a major role in behavioral development and expression in animals
Odors are likely to influence many of the handling and management procedures carried out with animals, whether on farms, in zoos, in the laboratory, or in the family home
Humans are better at smelling than we think; humans are able to track a scent just like a dog if we get our noses close to the odor trail [5], and during sleep, we are able to learn to associate an odor with a sound [6]
Summary
It has long been known that odors and olfaction play a major role in behavioral development and expression in animals. Applied ethologists and animal welfare scientists have not to any great extent investigated chemosensory perception or included odors in their studies. Given that human olfactory capacity is better than expected and very influential in our daily life – and this in a species that considers the sense of smell of little importance – how much more important are odors to the animals that we manage?
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