Chickens and other birds used in nutrition, toxicology, and agricultural research experience specific welfare challenges from gavage and restraint procedures.
Research chickens subjected to force-feeding by gavage experience acute stress from restraint and tube insertion. Birds show escape behaviors, vocalizations, and physiological stress responses during the procedure. Repeated procedures produce conditioned fear responses. Inadequate sedation during painful procedures in agricultural research is more common than in biomedical contexts. The welfare cost of restraint also confounds experimental results, giving researchers practical reasons to develop less stressful administration methods.