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dc.contributor.authorHerborn, Katherine
dc.contributor.authorMcElligott, AG
dc.contributor.authorMitchell, MA
dc.contributor.authorSandilands, V
dc.contributor.authorBradshaw, B
dc.contributor.authorAsher, L
dc.date.accessioned2020-07-09T08:12:25Z
dc.date.available2020-07-09T08:12:25Z
dc.date.issued2020-06-01
dc.identifier.issn1742-5689
dc.identifier.issn1742-5662
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/15883
dc.description.abstract

<jats:p> Chicks ( <jats:italic>Gallus gallus domesticus</jats:italic> ) make a repetitive, high energy ‘distress’ call when stressed. Distress calls are a catch-all response to a range of environmental stressors, and elicit food calling and brooding from hens. Pharmacological and behavioural laboratory studies link expression of this call with negative affective state. As such, there is an <jats:italic>a priori</jats:italic> expectation that distress calls on farms indicate not only physical, but emotional welfare. Using whole-house recordings on 12 commercial broiler flocks ( <jats:italic>n</jats:italic> = 25 090–26 510/flock), we show that early life (day 1–4 of placement) distress call rate can be simply and linearly estimated using a single acoustic parameter: spectral entropy. After filtering to remove low-frequency machinery noise, spectral entropy per minute of recording had a correlation of −0.88 with a manual distress call count. In videos collected on days 1–3, age-specific behavioural correlates of distress calling were identified: calling was prevalent (spectral entropy low) when foraging/drinking were high on day 1, but when chicks exhibited thermoregulatory behaviours or were behaviourally asynchronous thereafter. Crucially, spectral entropy was predictive of important commercial and welfare-relevant measures: low median daily spectral entropy predicted low weight gain and high mortality, not only into the next day, but towards the end of production. Further research is required to identify what triggers, and thus could alleviate, distress calling in broiler chicks. However, within the field of precision livestock farming, this work shows the potential for simple descriptors of the overall acoustic environment to be a novel, tractable and real-time ‘iceberg indicator’ of current and future welfare. </jats:p>

dc.format.extent20200086-20200086
dc.format.mediumPrint-Electronic
dc.languageen
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherThe Royal Society
dc.subjectanimal welfare
dc.subjectbioacoustics
dc.subjecticeberg indicator
dc.subjectprecision livestock farming
dc.subjectGallus gallus domesticus
dc.titleSpectral entropy of early-life distress calls as an iceberg indicator of chicken welfare
dc.typejournal-article
dc.typeJournal Article
dc.typeResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
plymouth.author-urlhttps://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000541611100005&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=11bb513d99f797142bcfeffcc58ea008
plymouth.issue167
plymouth.volume17
plymouth.publication-statusPublished
plymouth.journalJournal of The Royal Society Interface
dc.identifier.doi10.1098/rsif.2020.0086
plymouth.organisational-group/Plymouth
plymouth.organisational-group/Plymouth/Faculty of Science and Engineering
plymouth.organisational-group/Plymouth/Faculty of Science and Engineering/School of Biological and Marine Sciences
plymouth.organisational-group/Plymouth/REF 2021 Researchers by UoA
plymouth.organisational-group/Plymouth/REF 2021 Researchers by UoA/UoA04 Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience
plymouth.organisational-group/Plymouth/Users by role
plymouth.organisational-group/Plymouth/Users by role/Academics
dc.publisher.placeEngland
dcterms.dateAccepted2020-05-19
dc.rights.embargodate2020-7-16
dc.identifier.eissn1742-5662
dc.rights.embargoperiodNot known
rioxxterms.versionofrecord10.1098/rsif.2020.0086
rioxxterms.licenseref.urihttp://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved
rioxxterms.licenseref.startdate2020-06-01
rioxxterms.typeJournal Article/Review


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