The purpose of the present study was to analyze the relationship between incidence of vent pecking,
fluctuating asymmetry in chickens. The experiment (140 birds in three different replicates) measured
the fluctuating asymmetry of several traits (middle toe length, leg length, wing length, wattle length,
and leg width) in 20-week-old pullets of five Spanish breeds of chickens (Blue Andaluza, Quail
Castellana, White-faced Spanish, Red-barred Vasca, and Birchen Leonesa), and a White Leghorn
population, with and without evidence of suffering from vent pecking. The number of birds per breed
was 20, 24, 12, 20, 18, and 46, respectively. There was a significant difference between vent pecked and
non-vent pecked birds on the relative fluctuating asymmetry of middle toe length (P<0.05), the relative
fluctuating asymmetry of birds who suffered from vent pecking being larger. The combined relative
fluctuating asymmetry of the five traits approached levels of statistical significance (P=0.08). Thus, vent
pecked birds were more asymmetrical than non-vent pecked birds, having increased relative fluctuating
asymmetry. Differences were consistent across the breeds. Results indicate that vent pecking is
associated with measures of stress like fluctuating asymmetry.
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