How can you tell if a chicken is happy

[youtubeminer]

I been playing with my chicken and they make sad sound but they have a lot of fun out side so I can I know?

 

[newmarch2014]

You are attributing a vocalization that you are unaware the meaning of to a human emotion. This kind of math will drive you crazy. If your chickens are up and eating and roaming and drinking and scratching they are content. If they are 'screaming' and making a ruckus then you can assume they either need help or they are demanding something (like release from the coop or treats) and if they are quiet and fluffed out and not eating or interacting during a period they would usually be up and about then they may be sick....that is "Chickens the abrreviated version".

 

[azygous]

That's right, none of the sounds you attribute to sadness mean anything like the sounds humans make when they're sad.

When chickens are feeling awful, in pain or sick, they are perfectly silent and motionless. A very sick and depressed chicken will sit for hours facing a corner of the coop or run. A chicken in pain will stand in one spot for hours with their tail pointing to the ground. If they have a sore foot, it will be held up off the ground, but they make no sound when in pain or are sick.

They do, however, make subtle sounds of pleasure when being stroked on your lap that sound a bit like purring, a quiet sort of humming.

 

[youtubeminer]

Thanks

 

[youtubeminer]

Well he attack our hens so the rooster pecks him once and the fight is done

 

[Toddrick]

I'd say you are mistaking sadness for nervousness or fear. Chickens don't seem to engage in play or show much emotion. A happy chicken to me seems to be one that does what chickens do, like dust bathing, and scratching for food. I have to assume that a chicken who cannot do those things is unhappy because that would be against their instinct, and their little brains are like 99% instinct it seems. They definitely get excited about treats, like every other animal.

I've never seen any of my birds look as happy as 'Ruby' the Red yesterday. It was the first time I've seen any of them actively hunting bugs, chasing them down and snapping them out of the air. The younger birds weren't doing it, but she was zig zagging all over the orchard catching beetles and lightning bugs. I wish I wouldve recorded it, she was amazingly fast and precise. She stayed out later than normal (usually she is the first one to roost) because she was enjoying herself so much.

 

[youtubeminer]

My rooster does all those things dust bathing digging in food playing around with each other sometimes