Traits and behaviour affecting social status in red junglefowl (Gallus gallus) hens

Sammanfattning: Social status is commonly established among individuals within groups of animals. Despite this common characteristic of social animals it is still unclear how individuals establish their status. I investigated the relationships between morphology, posture and behaviours with social status in red junglefowl hens. The hens tested were measured (weight, comb length, comb height and tarsus length) and exposed to three different behavioural tests (novel arena, novel object and interaction test). None of the morphological features were associated with social status. However, dominant hens initiated the first encounter in a dyad interaction and performed a higher proportion of aggressive encounters against the opponent. The dominant hens were also the ones displaying more spread tail feathers than the opponent after status being established. Aggressiveness and social status is strongly linked, showing that there is a scope of behaviours to affect the establishment of status.