Courtship behaviour of ostriches (Struthio camelus) towards humans under farming conditions in Britain.

1. The courtship behaviour of adult male and female ostriches was observed in the presence and absence of human beings. 2. Courtship behaviours in both males and females were more prevalent in the presence of humans. 3. Exposure to a human for a short period did not stimulate courtship behaviour in the period immediately after the human had withdrawn. 4. Courtship behaviour towards humans may be important in the reproductive success of ostriches in a farming environment.

Feeding and pecking behaviour in ostrich (Struthio camelus) chicks in captivity.

1. Three sets of experiments were performed on two batches of ostrich chicks to investigate the factors affecting the pecking and feeding behaviour of grouped individuals. 2. Chicks showed no significant alteration of their feeding behaviour in response to raising pen walls in the rearing facility from 30 to 60 cm. 3. Further analysis on a different set of birds revealed consistent short term individual differences in the frequency of feeding and non-feeding pecks. 4. There were significant pen effects on behaviour suggesting the possible development of a pen 'culture' of pecking behaviour. 5. Pecking behaviours in 26 to 33 d-old chicks, with the exception of drinking, were generally negatively correlated, so any non-food pecking by a chick was generally associated with fewer pecks targeted at food. 6. By the age of two months chicks were pecking at food on the floor to a far greater extent than at any food presented in food trays.

Time budget and colour preferences (with specific reference to feeding) of ostrich (Struthio camelus) chicks in captivity.

1. Time budget analysis of the typical behaviours of young ostrich chicks showed that chicks spent over 50% of their time foraging and walking. 2. Food presented in bowls was largely ignored whereas food scattered on the floor was readily taken. 3. A colour preference test showed that green was the preferred colour.

The behavioural priorities of laying hens: the effect of cost/no cost multi-choice tests on time budgets.

A multi-choice situation offering a number of presumably significant environmental features may reveal an animal's immediate preferences concerning its environment and how it wants to distribute its time budget. In this study the time budgets of hens (Gallus gallus domesticus) were examined in a free access situation (no cost condition) and in a situation in which there was a cost for access (cost condition). The options consisted of six pens that could be entered from a middle pen which had no features except for space. The options were: (1) food and water; (2) woodchips; (3) grass (turf) or wheat seedlings; (4) a perch; (5) a nestbox; (6) a pen facing another pen with familiar hens. In the first experiment, hens were given a multi-choice test in a seven pen apparatus. The no cost condition gave free access to resources but in the cost condition hens had to squeeze through two dowels. The frequency of entering pens and initiating behaviours was greatly reduced in the cost condition. In the second experiment, hens were tested for their preferences after one of two treatments: (i) 'prior access' (and free access) to all pens for 22.5 h; (ii) 'no prior access' where hens were housed in a barren pen without food for 22.5 h. The duration of agonistic, pace/escape and stretch neck behaviours were greater in the 'no prior access' or cost condition. In both experiments, the amount of time pecking and scratching in litter did not differ between conditions. Thus, the imposition of a cost did not alter the amount of time spent pecking and scratching supporting the argument that this behaviour is an ethological need.

The behavioural priorities of laying hens: the effects of two methods of environment enrichment on time budgets.

In the first experiment, a comparison was made of the time budgets of laying hens (Gallus gallus domesticus) in an enriched condition, in which various objects were added to their pen, and an unenriched condition, the same pen but without these objects. Assuming a fixed time budget, greater choices in the enriched condition would increase some behaviours at the expense of others, providing a relative measure of importance. In a second experiment, one group had woodchips on the floor with food and the other had woodchips on the floor without food (available from a hopper). In the first experiment, frequency of dust-bathing decreased in the enriched condition. Hens in the unenriched condition spent more time preening, drinking, social pecking at others and being aggressive which also increased in the second experiment in the hopper food condition. In both experiments, there was no difference in the amount of time feeding and also pecking and scratching even though food was not available in the litter in the unenriched condition. The results of the second experiment show that feeding on the floor alone, i.e., not in combination with environmental enrichment, also reduces aggression, whereas it has no influence on social pecking.