According to a new study, a chicken’s facial color changes depending on how it is feeling
Have you ever observed that a chicken’s facial color reflects their emotional state? Did you realize that hens have feelings too?Like us, hens may express their emotions through the color of their faces. They reportedly use this as a means of communicating their emotions. When they are upset, their faces can get quite red. This was verified by a study conducted by an INRAE research team, which provided fresh insights into the hens’ behavioral tendencies.
Chickens feel a range of emotions, from joy and enthusiasm to grief and terror, much like many other animals and birds do. They express their emotions in rather different ways. Their expression on their faces conveys their emotions. A chicken’s face becomes pale pink when it is content or at ease.
The blood flow that occurs in response to their emotions is what causes this phenomenon. Because of how sensitive the skin is surrounding their faces, the alteration is visible. Chickens’ faces become a deep crimson when they feel depressed or afraid because their facial blood flow rises dramatically in these situations. Likewise, when they are at ease, their blood circulation is consistent, resulting in a pale pink complexion.
For the purpose of the research, many Sussex chickens that were three to four months old were collected. Three weeks were spent watching and filming these hens, who were housed in a 363 m2 woodland in the Loire Valley, France. They were maintained in a variety of scenarios, such as providing enough food or attempting to catch them, to see how their responses varied depending on the circumstance.
Two more chicken breeds were included in the study. About eighteen thousand images were chosen for further usage in a computer program that the scientists created to recognize the chicken features and automatically extract them. The researchers used imaging software to quantify the subjects’ facial and skin redness levels in relation to their sentiments and emotions.
