Training Rhea americana chicks to walk voluntarily across a scale; effect on the handler ’s time and the chicks’ weight gain compared to traditional techniques: a pilot study

The purpose of this pilot study was to determine if Rhea americana chicks could be trained to walk voluntarily across a scale to be weighed. If the chicks were trainable, the following questions would be investigated: the amount of time required to teach the chicks to walk voluntarily across a scale; the feasibility of this process in the production setting; and whether training chicks to walk voluntarily across a scale would lead to increased weight gain when compared to chicks weighed using traditional methods.
Source: Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research - Category: Veterinary Research Authors: Source Type: research