| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication: | 1973 |
| Authors: | Braud, WG, Ginsburg, HJ |
| Journal: | Animal Behaviour |
| Volume: | 21 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| Date Published: | 1973 |
| ISBN Number: | 0003-3472 |
| Keywords: | Gallus, Gallus gallus, Phasianidae |
| Abstract: | Twelve domestic chickens showed virtually no immobility reactions until the age of 9 days when tested repeatedly on a flat surface. However, twelve chicks did show pronounced immobility reactions as early as 1 day of age when tested repeatedly on a cloth surface which slightly contoured the chick's body. It was suggested that previous failures to observe immobility reactions in chicks less than 7 days old were due to inappropriate testing conditions and not to the absence of fear (a presumed substrate of the reaction), insufficient hormonal functioning, or non-functioning [`]releasing nervous mechanisms'. Young chicks do indeed become immobile if effector disruption is prevented and/or if increased physical contact during induction augments fear or produces a [`]prolonged zero' in the animal's defensive distance. |
| URL: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347273800466 |
| Short Title: | Animal Behaviour |
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