I Have To Know, Do You Anthropomorphize Your Animals?

Do I give them names, talk to them & care about them? Of course.

But I do not anthropomorphize their behavior or actions.
They do what they do because they are chickens. Not little feathered humans.
If you understand their needs and instinctive behaviors, you will have a better understanding of why they do what they do when they do it.
But dont equate that with human emotional behaviors.

I take good care of them and they provide me with eggs and entertainment.
And when the time comes, they will provide a pot of chicken soup.
Ditto Dat^^
"They do what they do because they are chickens. Not little feathered humans." Absolutely!

Reminded me of a situation a years or so ago:

Someone was talking to my little girl about the chickens and she was going on about how much fun it was to raise them & gather eggs, etc..
Then they asked my daughter what we will do with out chickens once they stopped laying eggs.
She looked at them kinda baffled and said "we gonna eat them of course".
Hahaha! Smart girl.



@Gatekeeper if you're still around, great thread/posts, cracks me up!
 
I have 10 hens: a construction worker, a librarian, a mean babysitter, and 7 others who have not yet determined their vocation.


Giving our chickens "vocations" helps us explain them to our friends and family who haven't known a chicken. It's easier for them to understand that chickens do have some unique personal traits; they're not just protein and their eggs aren't just an ingredient. They should be raised and cared for with respect for being individual animals; not en masse in anonymous factories.

Ours hens are pets but ultimately, God gave us chickens to care for and eat. We only eat our hens' eggs, but that doesn't change our responsibility or their purpose.
 
That was certainly a lot of gobbledy gook!
tongue.png
Not sure of the point they were trying to make but I do know I cringe every time I hear people say their pets are "like my children", "are family", are "my babies", fur babies, fur children, feather babies, etc. I always feel really sorry for their actual children and how they must feel to be loved on par with and equated with an animal. As they humanize their animals, they can't help but de-humanize the humans to which they compare them...in the end one doesn't know if they have very human like animals at home.... or very animalistic children and family members. One envisions the kids going outside to squat and poop in the yard, then running back in the house on all fours to get a dog treat.
 
This is an interesting article, even though it doesn't mention chickens:

Naturalizing Anthropomorphism: Behavioral Prompts to Our Humanizing of Animals
Alexandra C. Horowitz and Marc Bekoff
Anthrozoös, Volume 20 (Issue 1), pp.23-25, 2007.

Very interesting article, long, but full of great info, some very outdated though, wondering if there is a more recent study? Also, domestic dogs are so much closer to us in the evolutionary cycle because we've been breeding and working with them for thousands more years than the domestic chicken of today. Though we are now breeding chickens for looks more and more as we have done with dogs since they first began a working relationship with us when we really needed added protection, hunting support, and something to pull our belongings around for us as we moved in hunter/gatherer groups. Chickens have been bred for eggs and meat, till more recently the designer breeds for looks have become more and more popular. This is where the anthropomorphizing can be a hinder. We breed for looks rather than use, and loose the important qualities in the animal that formed the original "usefulness" relationship. There are still working dog breeds, but at least here in the USA, working breeds that actually work are dropping in number, compared to the golden retriever and toy breeds, which are companion animals.

What I did not see in this article is anything about the point I made earlier; that animals are connected to their instincts, while humans rely on emotions and a very complex brain structure that allows for abstract thought. The chickens and dogs can react to us, but it's on a primal level of response. The fetch game comes from that working relationship for the dog, while we now see it as a game for fun. It was once a training method for hunting, and you can still see it in working retrievers today. The dog is chasing the ball in a pray drive, while the human throws the ball for fun. That's where a clear distinction can be made, and we can step back from our emotional feelings to recognize the instincts of the animal at work.
 

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