THE EFFECT OF PRIOR VICTORY OR DEFEAT IN THE SAME SITE AS THAT OF SUBSEQUENT ENCOUNTER ON THE DETERMINATION OF DYADIC DOMINANCE IN THE DOMESTIC HEN

We examined the effect of prior victory or defeat in the same site as that of a subsequent encounter on the outcome of dyadic encounter of d omestic hens by placing them in two situations. In the first set of dy ads, two unacquainted hens having experienced prior victory were intro duced in the site where one had experienced victory. In the second set , two unacquainted hens having experienced defeat were introduced in t he site where one had recently lost. Results indicate that victories a re equally shared between individuals with prior victory experiences, while familiarity with the meeting site did not give any advantage. Ho wever, hens having previously lost were disadvantaged when the encount er occurred in the same site as that of their prior defeat. This demon strates that previous social experience in a site is more important on the outcome of subsequent encounters for losers than winners. Losers seem to associate the site with the stressful effect of losing or bein g more easily dominated.