Understanding chicken vocalizations - Georgia Tech

[ChicKat]

This is so cool in my estimation -- at Georgia Tech they have been studying the indications of what chickens sounds mean......


Here are some excerpts from the WSJ article linked below:

"Chickens can't speak, but they can definitely make themselves heard. Most people who have visited a poultry farm will recall chicken vocalization – the technical term for clucking and squawking – as a memorable part of the experience.
Researchers now believe that such avian expressiveness may be more than idle chatter. A collaborative project being conducted by the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia is investigating whether the birds' volubility can provide clues to how healthy and comfortable they are."

and:

Many poultry professionals swear they can walk into a grow-out house and tell whether a flock is happy or stressed just by listening to the birds vocalize," said Wayne Daley, a Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) principal research scientist who is leading the research. "The trouble is, it has proved hard for these pros to pinpoint for us exactly what it is that they're hearing."





http://www.gtri.gatech.edu/casestudy/flock-talk-bird-vocalization-research-poultry-prod

 

[1muttsfan]

I completely agree, just listening from the house you can especially catch alarm, and I love the comforting purr that young birds give to each other.

 

[donrae]

My old rooster Rocky had different warnings to the hens for our two dogs. One dog he considered a threat because that dog had a higher prey drive and would be interested in the birds. He got a higher pitched, more urgent warning. The other dog basically ignored the birds and he got more of a "hey, heads up there's something in the area" call.

It amazes me this is a funded research project. Pretty much any flock owner could fill them in with similar stories.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

They were just talking about this on NPR this afternoon.

 

[ChicKat]

My old rooster Rocky had different warnings to the hens for our two dogs. One dog he considered a threat because that dog had a higher prey drive and would be interested in the birds. He got a higher pitched, more urgent warning. The other dog basically ignored the birds and he got more of a "hey, heads up there's something in the area" call.

It amazes me this is a funded research project. Pretty much any flock owner could fill them in with similar stories.

They acknowledged that chicken pros have the knowledge -- but couldn't articulate it in a way that it could become automated for the big industry use...so they are trying to make it scientific and quantifiable.

They were just talking about this on NPR this afternoon.

That's where I heard about it -- but only caught some of it -- so I had to go googling.

 

[shorttimer]

I wish they had really gotten into more details, or at least a lot more than they did. Glad they did a story non the less.

 

[B-Goock]

I saw a show that they were doing research on chicken talk. About all I remember from it was that they use different "warning" calls depending on if the threat was on the ground or in the air.

 

[ChicKat]

I saw a show that they were doing research on chicken talk. About all I remember from it was that they use different "warning" calls depending on if the threat was on the ground or in the air.

That confirms what donrae said above. Interesting.

 

[aart]

http://www.gtri.gatech.edu/casestudy/flock-talk-bird-vocalization-research-poultry-prod

I wish this article was dated...so many online things are not.....grrrrr.

The video at the end of the article was uploaded in 2012...and they mentioned something being in place in a 'couple years'.

So wondering where they are with this and if the results are available to the public?

 

[ChicKat]

I wish this article was dated...so many online things are not.....grrrrr.

The video at the end of the article was uploaded in 2012...and they mentioned something being in place in a 'couple years'.

So wondering where they are with this and if the results are available to the public?

Wonder what would happen if you were to call an Ag extension office in GA. When I was volunteering for the Victoria TX Master Gardener's program, one of the things needed was to 'man the phones' in the office for so many hours.... I got questions I hadn't a clue about -- like someone brings in an insect and asks me what it is....but the extension agents are very up-to-date. It might require that they call you back -- but perhaps they even have it in .pdf or something.

Because it requires noise filtering technology and because they are doing it for agribusiness -- it may also be that it is a trade secret.