Feathers
Fluffed, sleek or ruffled, and the overall condition.
For exampleA quick fluff and shake followed by sleek feathers is normal grooming. A bird that stays fluffed up and hunched may be cold or unwell.
Species / Chickens
Chickenbody language.
A bird with dozens of calls, including different alarms for danger from the sky and danger on the ground.
99Signals mapped
51Science-backed references
172Unique scenarios
Start with the animal
Who the chicken is.
Chickens are far more complex than most people realise. They live in structured groups, dust-bathe, roost, forage all day and keep up a running commentary.
Their vocabulary is surprisingly rich, with different calls for food, for chicks and for different kinds of danger.
What FaunaVera looks at
The signals we read.
A few of the channels FaunaVera watches and listens to in every chicken video, weighed together with context and checked against a chicken-specific ethogram.
Comb and wattles
Colour and fullness.
For exampleA full, bright red comb usually goes with a healthy laying hen. A comb that turns pale, purple or shrivelled can point to illness or stress.
Head and eyes
Head movements and where the bird is looking.
For exampleA chicken tilting their head to look up with one eye is scanning the sky for predators such as hawks.
Wings and tail
How they are held.
For exampleWings held drooping away from the body can signal heat stress or illness. A tail carried low can point to a hen that is unwell.
Posture and gait
Standing, walking and resting.
For exampleA bird standing hunched with half-closed eyes while the rest of the flock is busy is often sick.
Voice
From contented clucks to alarm calls and gakel calls.
For exampleThe gakel call, a drawn-out, repeated cluck, is linked to frustration, for example a hen that cannot find a place to lay.
Did you know?
Chickens have different alarm calls for danger from the sky and danger on the ground, and other chickens react to each one differently.
Common misreads
- “A quiet chicken is a content chicken.”Content hens keep up a soft background of clucks and purrs as they forage. A silent, inactive bird may be unwell.
- “A fluffed-up bird is a relaxed one.”Fluffing while dust-bathing or settling down is normal, but a bird that stays fluffed and hunched may be cold or sick.
- “A hen keeping to herself just wants space.”Chickens are flock animals. A hen that keeps apart may be ill, injured or being bullied.
Being around a chicken
Move slowly and keep low. Let the birds come to you, and avoid chasing or grabbing. A chicken that feels safe will often come over to investigate.
See it for yourself
Your chicken, read in seconds.
Upload a short video and FaunaVera reads the whole picture for you: an Interpretation, Voice of Animal, practical Tips and Ethogram Insights that explain exactly which signals it saw.
Where this comes from
A few of the studies.
FaunaVera's chicken ethogram draws on 51 science-backed references. Here are a handful of them.
- Evans CS, Evans L & Marler P (1993). On the meaning of alarm calls: functional reference in an avian vocal system. Animal Behaviour, 46(1), 23-38. Read
- Collias NE (1987). The vocal repertoire of the red junglefowl: a spectrographic classification and the code of communication. The Condor, 89, 510-524. Read
- Edgar JL, Lowe JC, Paul ES et al. (2011). Avian maternal response to chick distress. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 278(1721), 3129-3134. Read
- Evans CS & Marler P (1994). Food calling and audience effects in male chickens, Gallus gallus: their relationships to food availability, courtship and social facilitation. Animal Behaviour. Read
- Marino L (2017). Thinking chickens: a review of cognition, emotion, and behavior in the domestic chicken. Animal Cognition, 20(2), 127-147. Read
- Olsson IAS & Keeling LJ (2005). Why in earth? Dustbathing behaviour in jungle and domestic fowl reviewed from a Tinbergian and animal welfare perspective. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 93(3-4), 259-282. Read
