The Genetics of Temperament - Anecdotal Notebook

[SourRoses]

I was inspired to start this by the encouragement to keep a detailed Observational Notebook, and to experiment, in Brian Reeder's "An Introduction to Form & Feathering".
Rather than keeping it personal, what about a shared thread to discuss a variety of experiences?

The Genetics at work in Temperament are not well understood. But that shouldn't keep us from trying to discover some of the answers, if only on a hypothetical basis.

Mr. Reeder, through careful notetaking, was able to determine genes at work in his fowl without any concrete answers. Some he gave temporary names. I think we could replicate that methodology here.

I hope it's okay to include some quotes...

There is a large amount of information showing that temperament can be modified through selection and thus has a genetic component. I have proven this to my own satisfaction time and again in my own work. I can assure you that temperament can be modified, but you need to pay attention to it and utilize exceptionally calm and tame birds in order to increase this trait in any line. A bird of exceptional temperament, when hardy and fertile, is worth its weight in gold, even if it is of lesser phenotypic quality. - Reeder, Brian. An Introduction to Form and Feathering of the Domestic Fowl.

Some useful definitions:

Qualitative selection uses the 1:2:1 pattern of Mendelian autosomes.

Quantitative selection looks for percentages (%) to determine ratios that vary over a continuous range.
However, there must be some variability or plasticity of traits seen in the given population for quantitative selection to be applied to. If a given parameter of traits is set and is not heterozygous at any of the alleles, the chance of selection away from that expression is small and the only way to “shuffle the deck” again, is to make an outcross to material with different allelic expression.
- Reeder, Brian. An Introduction to Form and Feathering of the Domestic Fowl.

Pleiotropy is when one gene has more than one effect. Pleiotropy is easily mistaken for linkage. The distinguishing element is that linkages can be broken and the two genes separated, while pleiotropy cannot be separated, as it is two effects caused by the same gene.
- Reeder, Brian. An Introduction to Form and Feathering of the Domestic Fowl.

So far, I think it's reasonable to think of Temperament as Multigenic and Quantitative.
Nurture is always something to consider, but birds raised in the same environment should provide a good basis for comparison with one another.
In the course of this thread, I hope to document individual birds who show different combinations of Temperament factors.

Tentatively, I'd like to separate the Rooster traits as follows:

• Respectful (to people)
• Kind (to hens)
• Paternal (to chicks)
• Protective (watchful, alert)
• Combative (towards known roos)
• Violent (towards predators, strange roos)

There could be more traits to tease apart here, please chime in!

We also need a Temperament traits list for Hens. It would stand to reason that genes affecting Temperament in Roosters would be the same affecting Hens, merely with a different expression due to hormonal differences.
Among other things, Paternal Roosters seem to be documented more in breeds with extremely broody Hens.

What do you think?

 

[Amer]

D'Anvers roosters tend to be disrespectful to people, combative, and protective of hens but not necessarily watchful. Also they are relatively gentle to hens.
Meanwhile only the rare d'Anvers hen is aggressive towards humans but they have the same ego as the rooster and are extremely combative no matter the size of their enemy. They tend to wimp out when not separated by wire, though.
Broodiness is average in this breed. Idk, it was a long time ago when I let one hatch and I don't really remember how it went.

Their aggressive behavior is key to their type, because their proud stance with wings down and tail fanned is precisely what a chicken does when it's fighting.

 

[Pipsnchicks]

This is when I'd start to get into the more advanced genetics if this is something you wanted to get seriously into. There are simple Mendelian genes (like most of the plumage genes) and then there is heritability in general. Where some of it can certainly be genetic, and some of it is more environmental. Certain traits are more or less heritable. This is more often seen in cattle, where traits like broodiness, weaning weight, and others are actually tracked for heritability. There are some genetic tests you can do for large livestock to test for these values too.

I've worked with temperament in quail (scaled up), and aggressiveness is definitely a highly heritable trait. Roosters that scalp hens will have sons that often do the same. Hens that get mean often have offspring of both sexes that will also get aggressive towards others.

 

[SourRoses]

D'Anvers roosters tend to be disrespectful to people, combative, and protective of hens but not necessarily watchful. Also they are relatively gentle to hens.
Meanwhile only the rare d'Anvers hen is aggressive towards humans but they have the same ego as the rooster and are extremely combative no matter the size of their enemy. They tend to wimp out when not separated by wire, though.
Broodiness is average in this breed. Idk, it was a long time ago when I let one hatch and I don't really remember how it went.

Their aggressive behavior is key to their type, because their proud stance with wings down and tail fanned is precisely what a chicken does when it's fighting.

What a great write-up of your observations! I appreciate the time you put into sharing it.

And that's really interesting about their stance and temperament being linked. Cool.

 

[SourRoses]

There are simple Mendelian genes (like most of the plumage genes) and then there is heritability in general.

Please see the first post...

So far, I think it's reasonable to think of Temperament as Multigenic and Quantitative.

Some useful definitions:
Qualitative selection uses the 1:2:1 pattern of Mendelian autosomes.
Quantitative selection looks for percentages (%) to determine ratios that vary over a continuous range.
- Reeder, Brian. An Introduction to Form and Feathering of the Domestic Fowl.

This is when I'd start to get into the more advanced genetics if this is something you wanted to get seriously into.

What exactly are you suggesting I get more into?
Do you know of any great books that go further into things than what I've already defined here?

 

[Logar]

O have always wondered how much it has to do with genetics vs the individual vs how they were raised. Definitely is something I wish was more looked into.

 

[SourRoses]

I have always wondered how much it has to do with genetics vs the individual vs how they were raised. Definitely is something I wish was more looked into.

Me too! Please feel free to document your observations here over time, and hopefully as a group we can start to piece together a reasonable hypothesis.

 

[SourRoses]

The rooster that I think of the most on the subject of temperament had an interesting mix of traits.

He was respectful to people, kind to hens, paternal towards chicks, protective... but very combative towards roos he was raised with, and violent towards strange roos.
(English Orpington)

That indicates to me that the genes for protective and territorial behavior must be separate from the genes influencing behavior within the flock.
There are probably a lot of genes at play here... if we can document enough unusual mixes of traits, we can see what comes apart and what may be different facets of the same gene.

For example, out of dozens of roos of the same breed I raised one year, many had a similar temperament that was non-combative towards other roos, respectful of people, but unkind towards hens.
("Unkind" to mean causing damage attempting to mate and not displaying courtship behaviors).
I've also seen many the other way around, kind to hens and disrespectful to people.

It does not seem to track with hormone levels either. Based on red flush visible in the skin and mating frequency.

 

[Logar]

Me too! Please feel free to document your observations here over time, and hopefully as a group we can start to piece together a reasonable hypothesis.

I only have 6 chickens- a light Brahma, a dark Brahma, a barred rock, a buff Orpington and 2 blue Jersey giants, but even small contributions can do something. I think it is safe to assume that none other than the two JGs share close genetics, as even the two Brahmas are different varieties that I am assuming are kept is separate flocks. So because of this I am somewhat focus somewhat on the JGs (Luna and Prudy) as I think it is the most important and interesting part but I will probably end up referring to others as well. They allare 25 week old (as of 9/25/24) pullets purchased from Mt. healthy hatchery.

The way I raised mine was a mostly “choice based” socializing process. I got them used to me giving them treats (first just their food, and then switched to dried black soldier fly larvae) by hand feeding it to them. After a couple days of it I started directly rewarding them for climbing up onto my arm and then my shoulder/head or even just the side of the brooder once they actually could jump/fly a bit when I had the cover open. Prudy was the second or third to catch on to this but once she did she was by far the most enthusiastic to get her treats. She would already be on the side of the brooder or my shoulder before I could finish opening the lid. This lasted all the way up to when I moved the outside at 5 weeks.

Luna on the other hand was a much less social and outgoing chick. She preferred to stay in the brooder along with Jingle my dark Brahma as everyone else explored. She did make a few trips up to the side of the brooder but only once or twice actually jumped up on to me. She did get a bit more confident at 3 weeks and stayed at that ever so slight increase in courage until 5 weeks when I moved them out.

They both kept their distinctive personalities, Luna being much more reserved and Prudy being much more outgoing. Luna did get less fearful as she aged but was always at a similar place. She was always hanging back and even when it was treat time she was much more cautious about eating from my hand.

This was until she reached around 14 weeks. After this point her personality started to change. She became much less fearful and became more curious about the world around her. This change kept going up until 18 weeks. By this point she was a completely different chicken. She would run up to say hi, come beg for treats, and just became a very friendly lady. This behavior was almost identical to Prudy.

Jump to 25 weeks and both have extremely similar behaviors. Now this isn’t to say they don’t have distinct personalities, just their friendliness and how they act around the other chickens and me is surprising close. They both are happy to run up to me to say hi but don’t like to be touched a lot, neither run away when I approach, and something more interesting that I have noticed is that they are both very mouthy. What I mean by this is when I am standing or sitting they will come up and start trying to take chunks out of my pants or even my back. This isn’t like my other chickens who will come up take a nibble from my shirt or pants, this is them trying to tear chunks off. My pants aren’t a big deal but when they go for my back if I am sitting down I have to stand up due to how painful it is. This isn’t aggressive behavior in any way, but whether it is them just exploring with their beaks or them being hungry, they have constant access to high protein feed and free range, I am not sure. They only go after my clothes though.

The biggest differences between them is that Luna is a lot more vocal and Prudy does seem a bit more tolerant of me torching her, most likely due to her being handled more as a chick.

Out of all of my chickens these two are definitely the most similar birds.

I may add more for my other 4 birds but I don’t have time to right now.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I am working on a project that has a strong behavioral component. I am looking for hens that cooperate inside the flock structure, roos that show no aggression toward me, are protective and alert, court their hens, are good fathers, etc.

I started with a Jersey Giant who showed 0 aggression toward people, never forced mating, and had no interest in young pullets. All very healthy behaviors.

He was killed protecting his girls from a dog, and we hatched his son.

That cockerel amped up the good behavior, got his father's intelligence, and also died protecting his girls. He skipped the teenage jerk period altogether and was accepted by mature hens when he was only 16 weeks old. We hatched again with the same result. All of these birds were brooder raised and never met their fathers, and yet the behavior was nearly identical.

On the other side I was given a Bielefelder roo, 2 years old. He was perfect with the hens but highly aggressive toward me, and the time a dog came into the flock he got between the dog and the hens, then played wounded bird and led the dog away before returning to his flock. His sons, brothers and nephews were just as aggressive, brooder raised in three different locations.

I actively look for negative behavior in the flock. I do not set eggs from hens that bully or attack chicks. I want the whole flock involved in chick raising, and it would be amazing to have a population where adult hens would mother incubated chicks without being broody. I do not set eggs from roos that are impolite to either me or the girls. I cull roos that are aggressive to me or try mating with young pullets.

The teenage jerk period is pretty much unavoidable, but a few act like adult birds right from the beginning, and those are the birds I want.

I currently have two boys, one 9 weeks and one 14 weeks, that could be twins in both looks and behavior. Both flare their hackles at me, attack my feet, and will be culled. I suspect that their grandmother was the daughter of my Biel.

Addition: it is interesting to see chicks doing cooperative play--tit-bitting for each other, play fighting and then sort-of bowing to each other and cutting off the "fight" by mutual agreement rather than looking for dominance.