Dominance rank, fear scores and reproduction in cockerels

Cockerels were tested for dominance rank (509 tests) and sexual activity (79 tests). Fear responses to a human were estimated using a five-point scale (264 tests). The sexual activity of calm cockerels was 135.5 units, and that of fearful ones 66.6 units (P less than 0.05). There was a tendency to better fertility by cockerels from the first group (86.4% to 81.1%). In addition, eggs from this group showed improved hatchability compared with the fearful ones (88.5% to 77.6%). There was no clear relationship between dominance rank and fear score.