English to French Medical Biology (-tech,-chem,micro-) zoology

This term occurs in the following sentence :"An{aqueous leaf extract was found to induce behavioural sedation in young chicks resulting in decreased locomotor activity as well as pecking behaviour. "

The context is a series of (animal) experiments /tests assessing the various chemical compounds of a plant in view of possible drug development.

My initial translation "comportement de picorage" is far from satisfactory because "picorage" does not exist, nor any related name...

Thanks so much