Document type: scientific Document type: published in World’s Poultry Science Journal
Authors: , V. H. B., Lansade, L., Calandreau, L.
Preview: Despite their ubiquity in agricultural systems, domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) remain widely misunderstood in terms of their cognitive and emotional capacities, particularly regarding how they perceive and interact with humans. This perspective review synthesizes current knowledge on the socio-cognitive abilities of chickens, with an emphasis on how they interpret and respond to human behavior. In the first section, we explore the practical implications of the human–chicken relationship, examining how human interactions influence production metrics and zootechnical outcomes, with direct consequences for welfare, especially in relation to fear responses and stress-related physiological markers. The second section delves into chickens' socio-cognitive capacities towards humans. While empirical studies in this domain remain limited, the available evidence suggests that chickens are far from passive or purely instinct-driven. Instead, they exhibit rich and nuanced behavioral responses to visual, tactile, and auditory human cues. Chickens can discriminate between individual humans, are sensitive to human attentional states, and can even use human social cues to guide their decision-making. In the final section, drawing on comparative research from other domestic species, we identify promising directions for future work on human–chicken relationships. These include individual human discrimination/recognition, chickens’ responses to human emotional expressions, and the potential for chickens to perceive humans as sources of positive affective experiences. We also discuss how this research holds broader theoretical value for understanding the nature and evolution of human–animal relationships, including the role of domestication in shaping animals’ socio-cognitive traits. While many questions remain, current evidence strongly indicates that chickens' perception of humans is far more complex than traditionally assumed. Advancing our understanding in this area holds significant potential not only for improving animal welfare practices but also for enriching our broader comprehension of interspecies social cognition and the ethical dimensions of animal management.
