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My first chicken paper! 
"Why do hens pile? Hypothesizing the causes and consequences".
https://tinyurl.com/y4nk9q6x
Myself, Rachel Davies, Ash Bright, @AnnieRayner and @asherblab wrote an article about the phenomena of piling and smothering in laying hens. Synopsis below
"Why do hens pile? Hypothesizing the causes and consequences".
https://tinyurl.com/y4nk9q6x
Myself, Rachel Davies, Ash Bright, @AnnieRayner and @asherblab wrote an article about the phenomena of piling and smothering in laying hens. Synopsis below
Piling is a behaviour resulting in a dense aggregation of hens and smothering refers to any resulting mortality. The behaviour is an understudied problem in the egg industry. We hypothesise the causes, from the minutes preceding a pile to the evolution of collective behaviour.
Hypothesis 1. Attraction or repulsion: a pile forms due to hens moving toward or away from an attractant or repellent. E.g. some observations have shown hens to be attracted to shafts of light in the shed 
Hypothesis 2. Socially influenced: a pile escalates due to social influences on behaviour. For example, hens may follow other hens as they begin to pile. 
Hypothesis 3. Early life: piling behaviour will be influenced by early life experiences, by determining stimuli or social preferences or by influencing fearfulness. If hens are more fearful as adults, are they more likely to pile? 
Hypothesis 4. Maladaptive collective behaviour: piling could be described as maladaptive collective behaviour as it is a vortex behaviour (i.e. a circular motion of the group) which has negative individual fitness consequences. 
Potential consequences:
Welfare-based: heat stress, stress and bone damage.
Production-based: lower egg quality, immune suppression, financial losses.
Producer-based: poorer mental health due to hen mortality, financial loss and the unpredictability of the behaviour.
Welfare-based: heat stress, stress and bone damage.
Production-based: lower egg quality, immune suppression, financial losses.
Producer-based: poorer mental health due to hen mortality, financial loss and the unpredictability of the behaviour.
