The highest-ranking rooster has priority to announce the break of dawn

[Recursion]

Shihuri, Ohashi, & Yoshimura:

http://www.nature.com/srep/2015/150723/srep11683/full/srep11683.html

The “cock-a-doodle-doo” crowing of roosters, which symbolizes the break of dawn in many cultures, is controlled by the circadian clock. When one rooster announces the break of dawn, others in the vicinity immediately follow. Chickens are highly social animals, and they develop a linear and fixed hierarchy in small groups. We found that when chickens were housed in small groups, the top-ranking rooster determined the timing of predawn crowing. Specifically, the top-ranking rooster always started to crow first, followed by its subordinates, in descending order of social rank. When the top-ranking rooster was physically removed from a group, the second-ranking rooster initiated crowing. The presence of a dominant rooster significantly reduced the number of predawn crows in subordinates. However, the number of crows induced by external stimuli was independent of social rank, confirming that subordinates have the ability to crow. Although the timing of subordinates’ predawn crowing was strongly dependent on that of the top-ranking rooster, free-running periods of body temperature rhythms differed among individuals, and crowing rhythm did not entrain to a crowing sound stimulus. These results indicate that in a group situation, the top-ranking rooster has priority to announce the break of dawn, and that subordinate roosters are patient enough to wait for the top-ranking rooster’s first crow every morning and thus compromise their circadian clock for social reasons.

[zazen]

1. I just love the dry delivery of that finding--better than the Onion! thanks! n/t

[VanillaRhapsody]

2. It took scientific research to figure that out....

My sharecropper grandmother could crow and make her Alpha rooster race around the coop trying to find out who wanted to fight him. I am pretty sure she would know HIS crow distinctly from all others....she would have laughed at the idea that they coulda just asked her "which rooster crows first?".

[Recursion]

3. One of my favorite examples of that was a UN study titled "World's poor lack money"

Though in fairness when you actually get into those studies the scholarship is generally worthwhile; the UN one about poverty was making the point that lack of money is a much bigger factor than lack of education, health care, etc: a dollar in cash does more than a dollar's worth of education.

[Hoyt]

4. Grandparents had rooster with dementia or something. He'd crow in early afternoon. He disappeared.nt