Sci-tech: The wondrous world of science Understanding ‘chicken
talk’ Having contented birds is the desire of every poultry
farmer, as that translates directly to higher productivity. The
degree of contentment of chickens can be judged by the sounds
they make. Modern computer technologies are now being used to
decipher the various sounds and gauge the extent of contentment
from them. Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology and
the University of Georgia have teamed up to examine various
sounds and scientifically determine the level of stress in an
experimental chicken barn. Different levels of stress were first
created by increasing the temperature in the barn or spraying
various levels of ammonia and recording the various sounds
produced, thereby developing correlations between stress levels
and the nature of sounds. The volume and pitch of the sounds as
well as the speed at which they are repeated are then analysed
by computers after they have been recorded. The work is aimed at
developing an automa