Hatching and sounds...

[nao57]

There are a few threads on sounds, but I don't think there's any asking about sounds while hatching specifically in regards to what the chicks or ducklings hear when they are trying to break out. This prompted a few questions that I had.

People on this site and on some thread said it helps the ducklings or chicks to hear the sounds of their 'brethren' ( XD )when they are trying to hatch somehow.

With that in mind...

Does it matter what the sound is? Could it be any sound? Or does it have to be the sounds of other ducklings? Would the sound of the other ADULT ducks work? Or could the sounds be anything, such as Music, etc?

What do you think about this?

I'm a bit curious also if the sounds being something else they hear first, besides 'Me' or 'you' (if its your eggs you are hatching), can offset imprinting away from me or you, back onto other ducks, so they don't think I'm the parent? (Some people might think that's cool to have ducklings imprint on you, but it sounds very time consuming to me.) Like for example, music or other duck calls are heard in the back ground while they hatch. Then after hatching they see me, but see that my sound doesn't match what they heard while in the egg.

It also makes you wonder also...so some ducks (or chickens) don't sound like the main group of breeds. (Like black bellied ducks). If they were not one of these species with unique sounds, but heard those ducks while in the egg of those more exotic calls, would that cause some of those ducklings to sound their own sounds like them?



Thanks.

 

[JaeG]

Chicks communicate with each other in the few days before internally pipping. Quail and Muscovy ducks have been studied in depth. Chicks start to click at 120 clicks per minute. Younger foetuses will speed up their metabolisms in response to this and will join in the clicking where they can so that they can catch up.

Bonding with the parent birds happens after they hatch, though some chick vocalisations are thought to transition the parents from focusing on sitting to preparing to take care of their young.

I posted the article here if you want to read it.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/really-interesting-article.1358854/

There's also a cool story from another member where it played out in real life.

Unless you spend a lot of time with your ducklings they will imprint on each other more strongly than with yourself. Interestingly Muscovy ducklings apparently don't imprint like Mallard derived breeds do.

 

[nao57]

This is interesting stuff.

So if I played artificial duckling or chick sounds next to the incubator in theory, I could get 'bonus' growth based on what you are saying right?