Abnormal behaviour of birds in captivity
Encyclopedia
Abnormal behaviour
When housed under captive or commercial conditions, birds often show a range of abnormal behaviours. These are often self-injurious or harmful to other individuals, and include:- Feather peckingFeather peckingFeather pecking is a behavioural problem that occurs most frequently amongst domestic hens reared for egg production, although it does occur in other poultry such as pheasants, turkeys, ducks and is sometimes seen in farmed ostriches. Feather pecking occurs when one bird repeatedly pecks at the...
- CannibalismCannibalism (poultry)Cannibalism is a behavioural problem that occurs most frequently amongst domestic hens reared for egg production, although it can also occur amongst domestic turkeys, pheasants reared as gamebirds, and other poultry species. Cannibalism occurs when one bird pecks at the skin of another and devours...
- Vent peckingVent peckingVent pecking is an abnormal behaviour of birds performed primarily by commercial egg-laying hens. It is characterised by pecking damage to the cloaca, the surrounding skin and underlying tissue...
- Toe peckingToe peckingToe pecking is a relatively rare abnormal behaviour of birds in captivity. It involves one bird pecking the toes of another and has been reported in hens and ostriches...
- Feather plucking
- Stereotypies
- PolydipsiaPolydipsia (in birds)Polydipsia is an excessively large water intake. Its occurrence in captive birds has been recorded, although it is a relatively rare abnormal behaviour.-Toxins:...
- Sham or "vacuum" dustbathingSham dustbathingSham dustbathing is a behaviour performed by some birds when kept in cages with little or no access to litter, during which the birds perform all the elements of normal dustbathing, but in the complete absence of any substrate. This behaviour often has all the activities and temporal patterns of...
See also
- Battery cages
- Furnished cagesFurnished cagesFurnished cages, sometimes called ‘enriched’ or ‘modified’ cages, are cages for egg laying hens which have been designed to overcome some of the welfare concerns of battery cages whilst retaining their economic and husbandry advantages, and also provide some of the welfare advantages of non-cage...
- ChickenChickenThe chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
- Animal psychopathologyAnimal psychopathologyAnimal psychopathology is the study of mental or behavioral disorders in non-human animals.Historically, there has been an anthropocentric tendency to emphasize the study of animal psychopathologies as models for human mental illnesses...
- Comparative psychologyComparative psychologyComparative psychology generally refers to the scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of non-human animals. However, scientists from different disciplines do not always agree on this definition...
- Stereotypy