Reading a flock: noise, spread, posture, signs of comfort and stress
A good technician knows in two minutes, from the door, whether a house is doing well. He has no gift: he has learnt to read five things in a precise order, noise, spread, posture, activity and behaviours, and to compare them with what a comfortable bird does naturally. This lesson brings together everything you have learnt about the bird's body into one observation method, the one you will apply in the field exercise and the case study of this level.
12 min read · 5-question quiz at the end
By Abdul Hussein ChoumanFounder of NEXTEKCI · Agnibilékrou hatchery since 2006Lesson reserved for students following the steps
This lesson is part of Level 6 — The bird: anatomy, physiology, behaviour. It opens to registered students who have passed the level 5 exam. Levels 1 to 5 and the tracks remain readable by everyone.
What you will learn
- ✓Describe what a comfortable bird does: where it is, how it holds itself, what it does with its day
- ✓Read a house in order: noise, spread, posture, activity, behaviours, and link each deviation to a physiological cause
- ✓Fill in a ten-point observation grid with a score, and set the alert thresholds
- ✓Tell the difference between normal flock behaviour (hierarchy, dust bathing) and a sign of stress (feather pecking, piling)