The ability to use heterospecific alarm calls is adaptive in the wild, as it provides an opportunity to avoid predators. We now know that several species are able to respond to alarm calls intended for others. However, this capacity has never been investigated in domestic animals. The capacity to use heterospecific alarm calls may be relevant for free-range domestic species, especially when they share predators with wild signallers. Using playback experiments, we investigated the vigilance behaviour of free-range naked neck chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) when confronted with alarm calls (test playbacks) and songs (control playbacks) of a commonly occurring wild passerine, the great tit (Parus major). We found that subjects exhibited an increased vigilance to alarm calls compared to songs, therefore, showing that chickens respond to heterospecific signals as wild birds do. Recently, there has been an increased interest for free-range poultry production, notably because of the benefits of this farming method for chicken welfare. Although future studies are required to address this question, mortality due to predation may be reduced through the implementation of structures in areas frequented by wild heterospecific signallers.

使用异种警报调用的能力在野外具有适应性，因为它提供了避免掠食者的机会。现在我们知道几种物种能够响应针对其他物种的警报呼叫。但是，从未在家畜中研究这种能力。使用异种警报呼叫的能力可能与自由放养的家养物种有关，特别是当它们与野生信号员共享掠食者时。使用播放实验中，我们研究了散养的裸颈鸡警戒行为（鸡内金）当报警电话（测试播放）和经常发生的野生雀形目歌曲（控制播放），大山雀面临（大山雀）。我们发现，与歌曲相比，对象对警铃的警觉性增强，因此，表明鸡像野鸟一样对异种信号做出反应。近来，人们对散养家禽生产产生了越来越大的兴趣，特别是因为这种耕种方法对鸡的福利有益。尽管需要进行进一步的研究来解决这个问题，但是通过在野生异源信号传导者经常出没的地区实施结构，可以降低捕食导致的死亡率。