Chickens may perceive humans as social buffers and attend to human-given cues

International audience

anglais. Positive perception of humans, extensively documented in domestic mammals, remains underexplored in domestic birds like chickens, where research has mainly focused on fear reduction. This study evaluated whether chickens perceive humans positively, considering interaction types and breed differences. Two breeds (Lohmann LSL Classic, Brown Classic) experienced physical contact (PC), visual-only contact (VC), or minimal human contact (MC) over 13 days (Days 35–51; PC and VC: 1–2 min/day). Birds underwent three behavioral tests. In the separation–reunion test (Days 52–53), hens experienced two 3-minute separations (experimenter absent) and reunions (experimenter present) in an open-field setting. Calm behaviors (foraging, non-vigilance) were similar across groups during separations but increased significantly in PC birds during reunions compared to VC and MC birds. Brown hens showed less calmness during separations than reunions, unlike White hens, and spent more time near the experimenter. The capture test involved up to six standardized attempts by the experimenter to catch each bird. PC birds were easiest to capture, MC birds were most challenging, and VC birds showed intermediate responses. Additionally, Brown hens were generally easier to capture than White hens. In the local enhancement test (Days 120–137), hens' ability to use human gestures to locate food was assessed. Two PC hens (one white, one brown) successfully utilized human cues, with Brown PC hens performing notably well overall. These results suggest that chickens exposed to positive human interactions perceive humans positively and effectively associate human cues with rewards, informing breed-specific welfare improvements.