Animal related topics > Animal Research
Chickens are capable of feeling empathy, scientists believe
doglady:
I saw this article on the care2 site when I looked at Gnarbucks link about the veggie couple in Crete. The title the poster had given to the article made me seethe:
"Chickens Feel Empathy, Why Can't We?"
Ugh, does this guy seriously think humans (himself and his fellow ARAs excepted of course) are incapable of feeling empathy?
Domestic chickens display signs of empathy, the ability to ''feel another's pain'' that is at the heart of compassion, a study has found.
2:48AM GMT 09 Mar 2011
The discovery has important implications for the welfare of farm and laboratory animals, say researchers.
Empathy, long thought to be a defining human trait, causes one individual to be affected by the emotional state of another.
Feelings are ''mirrored'' in the observer, leading to a shared experience of being happy, sad or distressed.
The research demonstrated that hens possess a fundamental capacity to empathise, at least with their own chicks.
Scientists chose hens and chicks for the study because it is thought empathy probably evolved to aid parental care.
A number of controlled procedures were carried out which involved ruffling the feathers of chicks and mother hens with an air puff.
When chicks were exposed to puffs of air, they showed signs of distress that were mirrored by their mothers. The hens' heart rate increased, their eye temperature lowered - a recognised stress sign - and they became increasingly alert. Levels of preening were reduced, and the hens made more clucking noises directed at their chicks.
Researcher Jo Edgar, from the School of Veterinary Sciences at the University of Bristol, said: ''The extent to which animals are affected by the distress of others is of high relevance to the welfare of farm and laboratory animals.
''Our research has addressed the fundamental question of whether birds have the capacity to show empathic responses.
''We found that adult female birds possess at least one of the essential underpinning attributes of 'empathy', the ability to be affected by, and share, the emotional state of another.''
The findings were reported online today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Under commercial conditions, chickens regularly encounter other birds showing signs of pain and distress ''owing to routine husbandry practices or because of the high prevalence of conditions such as bone fractures or leg disorders'', said the researchers.
The study was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Research Council's Animal Welfare Initiative.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8370301/Chickens-are-capable-of-feeling-empathy-scientists-believe.html
Angry Dog:
....no. Is this what passes for science over there?
Pollock:
So I have to ask, do they feel that emathy when they're pecking one of their own to death?
Bazinga!!:
They are mistaking empathy for the natural chain reaction of species who exist in a group environment. Especially prey animals.... If one horse begins to buck, run and fart... so does the other 20 of them. If a bull shows high alert behavior, the dynamic insists that the cows will also become aware. And watch their herd leader for a cue to proceed grazing or relocate.
McAvoy:
--- Quote --- They are mistaking empathy for the natural chain reaction of species who exist in a group environment. Especially prey animals.... If one horse begins to buck, run and fart... so does the other 20 of them. If a bull shows high alert behavior, the dynamic insists that the cows will also become aware. And watch their herd leader for a cue to proceed grazing or relocate.
--- End quote ---
Interestingly humans do this too. It's called a mob.
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