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Chicks use their beaks in the hatching process and pecking is one of the chick's first activ- ities after hatching. Pecking is a precisely controlled action modulated by visual and tactile cues of the physical characteristics of feed particles. Post-ingestive nutritional effects of the feed are mem- orised and are coupled with sensory cues to let the chicken identify the feed. Some interactions between nutritional factors (amino acid and energy balance, feeding regimen) and other environ- mental factors (temperature, light) are discussed in this review. Both the nutritional content and physical characteristics of the diet in concert with other constraints such as climate modulate feed intake and the rhythm and efficiency of pecking at feed by broilers. Further developments in feed milling processes that control the physical characteristics of the feed particles might facilitate the efficiency of pecking ('feed prehension') in general, and feed identification after a new feed delivery. Under com- mercial conditions, feed intake behaviour of chickens can be measured by focal sampling of broilers between two periods of rest or by scanning techniques. In the laboratory, detailed observations of pecking may complement our knowledge of the effects of the physical structure of feed on pecking and the identification of the feed by broilers. The necessary validation of behavioural methods in com- mercial farms would benefit from increased interactions between field research and laboratory trials.
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Picard et al. (1999) studied this question.
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