Early Social Responses in Gallus : A Functional Analysis

Abstract

Early socialization leads to the establishment of species awareness, or imprinting, in many birds and mammals. Gallus chicks normally develop species-specific preferences prior to exposure to a parent, but early exposure is necessary to maintain these preferences. Descriptive rather than functional analyses have led to apparent disagreement about early socialization behavior; from an ecological viewpoint, such behavior is both adaptive and predictable.