ArticleScientific reports2021
Environmental complexity positively impacts affective states of broiler chickens.
Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed.
- Impacts of Enrichment Type (Hut vs. Platform) on Chronic Stress and Anxiety in Six Fast- and Slow-Growing Broiler Strains.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Identification and characterization of clusters of potentially new vocalizations in broiler chickens using advanced acoustic analysis.Poultry science · 2025Article
- Toutouwai display positive judgement bias when tested in the wild.Animal cognition · 2025Article
- Factors affecting animal welfare on commercial broiler chicken farms in West Java, Indonesia.Animal welfare (South Mimms, England) · 2025Article
- Article
- Feed additives and enrichment materials to reduce chicken stress, maximize productivity, and improve welfare.Veterinary world · 2024Review
- Environmental complexity impacts anxiety in broiler chickens depending on genetic strain and body weight.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Effects of Different Auditory Environments on Behavior, Learning Ability, and Fearfulness in 4-Week-Old Laying Hen Chicks.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- Environmental Complexity and Reduced Stocking Density Promote Positive Behavioral Outcomes in Broiler Chickens.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- Measuring Chronic Stress in Broiler Chickens: Effects of Environmental Complexity and Stocking Density on Immunoglobulin-A Levels.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- Social-pair judgment bias testing in slow-growing broiler chickens raised in low- or high-complexity environments.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Government Guidance Fund Empowers the Supply Chain Financing Decision of Marine Ranching Considering Environmental Enrichment and Friendliness.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- Use of qualitative behavioural assessment to investigate affective states of housed dairy cows under different environmental conditions.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2023Article
- Enhancing their quality of life: environmental enrichment for poultry.Poultry science · 2023Article
- An effective environmental enrichment framework for the continual improvement of production animal welfare.Animal welfare (South Mimms, England) · 2023Article
- Article
- Environmental Complexity: Additional Human Visual Contact Reduced Meat Chickens' Fear of Humans and Physical Items Altered Pecking Behavior.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Article
- Dietary strategies to alleviate high-stocking-density-induced stress in broiler chickens - a comprehensive review.Archives animal breeding · 2022Review
- Early life environment affects behavior, welfare, gut microbiome composition, and diversity in broiler chickens.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Affective state can bias an animal's judgement. Animals in positive affective states can interpret ambiguous cues more positively ("optimistically") than animals in negative affective states. Thus, judgement bias tests can determine an animal's affective state through their responses to ambiguous cues. We tested the effects of environmental complexity and stocking density on affective states of broiler chickens through a multimodal judgement bias test. Broilers were trained to approach reinforced locations signaled by one color and not to approach unreinforced locations signaled by a different color. Trained birds were tested for latencies to approach three ambiguous cues of intermediate color and location. Broilers discriminated between cues, with shorter latencies to approach ambiguous cues closest to the reinforced cue than cues closest to the unreinforced cue, validating the use of the test in this context. Broilers housed in high-complexity pens approached ambiguous cues faster than birds in low-complexity pens-an optimistic judgement bias, suggesting the former were in a more positive affective state. Broilers from high-density pens tended to approach all cues faster than birds from low-density pens, possibly because resource competition in their home pen increased food motivation. Overall, our study suggests that environmental complexity improves broilers' affective states, implying animal welfare benefits of environmental enrichment.
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