Chicken Vocalization

Chickens cluck and squawk at various times throughout the day. The technical term for this clucking and squawking is chicken vocalization. Those who work with chickens, live with chickens, or keep them as pets swear that you can tell when they are happy and content just by listening to them. This concept is being investigated by some researchers from the University of Georgia. To do this they are conducting experiments where they use small flocks and record the vocal reactions to stressful situations. Realizing what sounds indicate unhappy chickens can create markers for identifying farms that need improvement. The overall health and happiness of a chicken matters when it comes to growth since unhappy or stressed chickens can have stunted growth. Stunted growth means loss of production for farmers since they profit by each pound of chicken they sell. Farms also use expensive detection equipment such as ammonia detectors to detect unsanitary conditions for the birds. Researchers are hoping the study of chicken vocalizations and creation of algorithms to detect unhappy noises might save money for chicken famers. A few microphones and the use of these algorithms would be cheaper than the ammonia detectors. Overall, the study of chicken vocalizations may be useful to farmers, but may also prove helpful for people who keep chickens as pets that just want to keep their chickens happy