Exposure to calls before hatching affects the post-hatching behaviour of domestic chickens

Abstract

The soundscape experienced by animals early in life can affect their behaviour later in life. For birds, sounds experienced in the egg can influence how individuals learn to respond to specific calls post-hatching. However, how early acoustic experiences affect subsequent social behaviour remains unknown. Here, we investigate how exposure to maternal ‘cluck’ calls pre-hatching affects the behaviour of domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) at 3–5 days and 17–21 days old. We incubated eggs and played cluck calls to half of them. After hatching, we raised chicks in small groups occupying different enclosures. At 3–5 days old, we tested chicks’ responses to three stimuli: (i) background sound, (ii) chick calls and (iii) cluck calls. We found that the pre-hatching experience of cluck calls reduced the likelihood of moving in response to all three stimuli. At 17–21 days old, some chicks explored beyond their own enclosure and ‘visited’ other groups. Chicks exposed to cluck calls before hatching were three times more likely to enter another group’s enclosure than control chicks, and this was unaffected by the chicks’ social connectedness. Our results indicate age- and context-dependent responses of chicks to pre-hatching cluck-call playbacks, with potential long-term effects on individual social behaviour.