Strain differences among chickens in tonic immobility: evidence for an emotionality component

Substantial strain differences in tonic immobility were found between different breeds of chickens. Crossbreeding between strains showing different immobility durations yielded hybrids that exhibited intermediate reactions. For purpose of relating the strain differences in tonic immobility to more conventional measures of emotionality, data were collected on open-field activity, defecation, and adrenal weight. Overall, the results implicated strain-specific differences in emotionality as being the basis for the observed differences in immobility. Latency to defecate in an open field, however, was highly correlated with latency to ambulate. It was argued that defecation, rather than being an absolute measure of fear or emotionality, may in fact be an intermediate response to gradual fear reduction.