International Journal of Comparative Psychology

Maternal responsiveness in adult hens was measured by studying their rates of vocalization over a period of 12 days. Four roups of hens were compared: one group was isolated both visually and tactually from chicks; two other groups were exposed either to visual cues or to tactile cues originating from chicks, and in the last group, hens received both types of cues. Visual or tactile cues alone induced similar levels of maternal responsiveness but simultaneous presentation of both types of cues induced maximum responsiveness.