Fw: [animal_net] Study: Chickens Think About Future

[Guest guest]

-

" Le Petit Chien " <perro10

<perro10

Saturday, July 16, 2005 11:32 PM

[animal_net] Study: Chickens Think About Future

 

 

> Study: Chickens Think About Future

> <http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20050711/chicken.html>

> http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20050711/chicken.html

> By Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News

>

>

> July 14, 2005 - Chickens do not just live in the present, but can

> anticipate the future and demonstrate self-control, something previously

> attributed only to humans and other primates, according to a recent

> study.

>

> The finding suggests that domestic fowl, Gallus gallus domesticus, are

> intelligent creatures that might worry.

>

> " An animal with no awareness of 'later' may not be able to predict the

> end of an unpleasant experience, such as pain, rendering it (the pain)

> all-encompassing, " said Siobhan Abeyesinghe, lead author of the study.

>

> " On the other hand, an animal that can anticipate an event might benefit

> from cues to aid prediction, but may also be capable of expectations

> rendering it vulnerable to thwarting, frustration and pre-emptive

> anxiety. "

>

> She added, " The types of mental ability the animal possesses therefore

> dictate how they should best be managed and what we might be able to do

> to minimize psychological stress. "

>

> Abeyesinghe, a member of the Biophysics Group at Silsoe Research

> Institute in England, and her colleagues tested hens with colored

> buttons. When the birds pecked on one of the buttons, they received a

> food reward.

>

> If the chicken waited two to three seconds, it received a small amount

> of food. If the bird held out for 22 seconds, it received a " jackpot "

> that paid out with much more to eat.

>

> The study is published in the current Animal Behavior.

>

> " In their natural environment it may pay to get food while you can,

> before someone else does, " Abeyesinghe told Discovery News. " But counter

> to this, we found that when a much larger food reward was delivered for

> the jackpot condition, hens chose it over 90 percent of the time, ruling

> out that they have absolutely no awareness of the near future. "

>

> Prior studies have found that neuron organization in chicken brains is

> highly structured and suggests that, like humans, chickens evolved an

> impressive level of intelligence to help improve their survival.

>

> Unlike humans, the chicken brain has a remarkable capacity to repair

> itself fully after trauma, which has puzzled neuroscientists for years.

>

> It remains unclear what exactly goes on in the minds of chickens, which

> are raised at a rate of 40 billion birds per year to satisfy human

> consumption demands. Abeyesinghe, however, did say, " They probably show

> more cognitive ability than people would generally credit them with. "

>

> Raf Freire, a lecturer in the Centre for Neuroscience and Animal

> Behavior at the School of Biological, Biomedical and Molecular Sciences

> in the University of New England, Australia, agrees, but already

> suspected that animals and birds, particularly chickens, had higher

> levels of intelligence than currently thought.

>

> " An ability to show self-control improves an animal's survival in their

> natural environment and would be expected to have been selected by

> evolutionary processes, " Freire told Discovery News. " Hence, it did not

> surprise me that chickens show self-control. "

>

> He added, " What is astonishing, however, is that the researchers were

> able to so elegantly and convincingly demonstrate this in chickens. "

>

> Both Freire and Abeyesinghe hope the findings will lead to more humane

> treatment of birds and animals raised for slaughter. Aside from animal

> rights issues, other research has indicated that if a bird or animal

> feels stress before killing, that anxiety may adversely affect the

> quality, taste and texture of meats.

>

>

>

>

>

>