Research note: approach rather than avoidance: behavioral responses of broiler chicks repeatedly exposed to an autonomous mobile robot
- 1Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNC), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de los Alimentos (ICTA), Córdoba, Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas (IIByT, CONICET-UNC), Córdoba, Argentina.
- 2Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNC), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de los Alimentos (ICTA), Córdoba, Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas (IIByT, CONICET-UNC), Córdoba, Argentina. Electronic address: [email protected].
Abstract
Previous experience shapes animal behavior, and repeated exposure to non-aversive stimuli can reduce responses to subsequent challenges. Autonomous robots that navigate commercial broiler houses are being developed for environmental monitoring and have been shown to increase bird locomotion during their passage. However, whether this increased activity primarily reflects displacement or fear-induced avoidance, and how robot exposure influences behavioral responses, remains unclear. We assessed behavioral responses of broilers repeatedly exposed to the AviSense robot (Appelie Robotics) compared with non-exposed controls. From day 1 post-hatch, chicks were reared under commercial conditions in three 7.5 × 4.5 m pens containing approximately 500 birds each: one robot-exposed (RE) and two unexposed controls (CON). RE birds were exposed hourly to the robot for 10 min, whereas CON birds remained unexposed to it. At 13-15 d, chicks underwent individual behavioral tests; responses were analyzed with mixed-effects models. In a two-choice runway containing the robot and an unfamiliar basketball at opposite ends, RE chicks left the neutral zone sooner (P = 0.013) than controls. Treatment × Zone interaction P-values were 0.060 for latency to enter the stimulus close zones and 0.043 for time spent in these close zones. Fisher’s LSD post hoc comparisons showed that RE chicks entered the robot close zone sooner than CON chicks (P = 0.004), spent more time in that zone than CON chicks (P = 0.004), and spent more time in the robot than the ball close zone (P = 0.036). In tests conducted without the robot, RE chicks showed shorter latency to ambulate in an open field (P = 0.002) and required more attempts to induce tonic immobility (P = 0.012), whereas social-reinstatement behavior was similar between treatments. Overall, previous robot exposure was associated with a robot-specific increase in subsequent proximity and with lower behavioral inhibition in independent fear-related contexts, providing no evidence that such exposure induced fear-driven avoidance. Repeated exposure to a robot may therefore promote familiarization and facilitate its integration into the birds’ environment.
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BibTeX
@article{caliva2026research,
title = {{Research note: approach rather than avoidance: behavioral responses of broiler chicks repeatedly exposed to an autonomous mobile robot}},
author = {Jorge Martin Caliva and Jackelyn Melissa Kembro and Romina Paula Andrea Picco and Diego Alberto Guzman and Raul Hector Marin},
journal = {Poultry Science},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.psj.2026.107959},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2026.107959},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Research note: approach rather than avoidance: behavioral responses of broiler chicks repeatedly exposed to an autonomous mobile robot
AU - Jorge Martin Caliva
AU - Jackelyn Melissa Kembro
AU - Romina Paula Andrea Picco
AU - Diego Alberto Guzman
AU - Raul Hector Marin
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/14
JO - Poultry Science
DO - 10.1016/j.psj.2026.107959
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2026.107959
AB - Previous experience shapes animal behavior, and repeated exposure to non-aversive stimuli can reduce responses to subsequent challenges. Autonomous robots that navigate commercial broiler houses are being developed for environmental monitoring and have been shown to increase bird locomotion during their passage. However, whether this increased activity primarily reflects displacement or fear-induced avoidance, and how robot exposure influences behavioral responses, remains unclear. We assessed behavioral responses of broilers repeatedly exposed to the AviSense robot (Appelie Robotics) compared with non-exposed controls. From day 1 post-hatch, chicks were reared under commercial conditions in three 7.5 × 4.5 m pens containing approximately 500 birds each: one robot-exposed (RE) and two unexposed controls (CON). RE birds were exposed hourly to the robot for 10 min, whereas CON birds remained unexposed to it. At 13-15 d, chicks underwent individual behavioral tests; responses were analyzed with mixed-effects models. In a two-choice runway containing the robot and an unfamiliar basketball at opposite ends, RE chicks left the neutral zone sooner (P = 0.013) than controls. Treatment × Zone interaction P-values were 0.060 for latency to enter the stimulus close zones and 0.043 for time spent in these close zones. Fisher’s LSD post hoc comparisons showed that RE chicks entered the robot close zone sooner than CON chicks (P = 0.004), spent more time in that zone than CON chicks (P = 0.004), and spent more time in the robot than the ball close zone (P = 0.036). In tests conducted without the robot, RE chicks showed shorter latency to ambulate in an open field (P = 0.002) and required more attempts to induce tonic immobility (P = 0.012), whereas social-reinstatement behavior was similar between treatments. Overall, previous robot exposure was associated with a robot-specific increase in subsequent proximity and with lower behavioral inhibition in independent fear-related contexts, providing no evidence that such exposure induced fear-driven avoidance. Repeated exposure to a robot may therefore promote familiarization and facilitate its integration into the birds’ environment.
SN - 0032-5791
SN - 1525-3171
ER -