What's The "Smartest" Thing You've Seen a Chicken Do?

[scratch'n'peck]

Here is a video that I came across on you tube of a chicken being clicker trained to peck at a toy keyboard:

 

[angie3881]

My chickens are WONDERFUL at pulling out my Hosta plants... just the Hosta. Not the weeds. They are obviously BRILLIANT.

One of my hens stands just inches from the end of the dog chain and taunts the dog when he is out. She is pretty smart... till that dog is lose! Haha

Oh, and they all are extremely talented at pooping on everything. It's kinda their job.

Yep, I got me some smart ones!!

 

[mamaKate]

My rooster calls me from his bachelor pen if a stray dog or cat is prowling around. I have cats and dogs and he only reacts to the strangers. He stops crowing when I come outside.
My little EE is very private about laying eggs. I know her usual time so I step out and call "Elizabeth, are you ready?" She dashes in, lays the egg and summons me when she's finished and ready to go back out.
My lone guinea occasionally panics and flies out of the fence or onto the roof. I recognize his panic sound, step outside and say."Jeffrey, get back here," and he zips in. He won't do it for anyone else.

 

[GardenGal]

I wonder how our chickens know the difference between all the neighborhood dogs and coyotes. They don't care if any dog goes by while they're in their tractor, but sound the alert like nobody's business if they see a coyote coming!

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Quote:
That is a good question. Considering how different various breeds of dogs look, it seems like chickens are using more than visual discrimination figure out the coyote is a danger.

 

[jojo54]

I love all these smart bird stories.

 

[GardenGal]

Regarding coyotes, the roosters will sound the panic alert if they see one in the distance. It amazes me, because we have a huge variety of dogs in the area and the chickens don't mind seeing them at all.

Another thing I think is cool: they know the unique sound of my husband's car, and will let me know when he's back in the neighborhood. And THAT is why I talk to the chickens - they know all the good stuff!

 

[scratch'n'peck]

That is so cool that your chickens know your husband near home before you do.

 

[specklesmom]

My husband and I were always amazed at how clearly our pet chicken, Speckles, was able to express herself with various sounds. There was the "Just Looking Around Here, & Here & Here" kind of talking to herself noise. Also, of course, the "I Just Laid A Magnificent Egg" noise as well as the "Get Out Here Now And Scare Off This Horrible Threat" call (she was an "only chicken" most of her time with us). Our favorite was the loud, complaining, pleading, aggrieved & petulant squawk..... (Noooooooo! Not that!!!!!!!!) as we carried her back toward her coop. She managed to sound like someone was pulling out her toenails one by one.... We expected the inspector for the Society of Protection of Chickens to knock on our door one day and demand to know why we were obviously torturing some poor chicken. I heard the sweetest noise of all only after she had been with us for a while and I had her in my lap while scritching her neck; she actually made a little trilling, purring noise I'd never imagined could be produced.

She also demonstrated definite memory. When we were going to be away from home for several days we would take her over to a friend's house, along with her daytime "safety pen" and her night coop which was locked in the garage. Our friend kept sunflower seeds inside the workshop beside the garage and when on supervised outings Speckles would return there frequently to see if she could persuade our friend to dole out a few. Even after periods of months at a time, whenever we took her over to our friend's place she would run straight to the door of the shop and wait for her treat.

An article in Science News titled "Chicken Speak: birds pass test for fancy communication" by Susan Milius says that researchers have shown that chickens make sounds, like words, that represent something specific in their environment. Other than primates, chickens are the first animals shown to have this ability. Researchers found that roosters use different alarm calls for threats on the ground and threats in the air.

A story titled "Cheating Chooks" on Australian ABC TV Science by reporter Jonica Newly details experiments done concerning communication calls of chickens. Animal Behaviorist Dr. Chris Evans says that chickens communicate at a level of sophistication no one ever imagined. (Except for BYC folks!) Studies show examples of chicken "lying, cheating & occasional acts of chivalry". Chickens use a vocabulary of 20 or more calls and roosters were shown to "lie" about finding food bits for hens as much as 40% of the time. Hens learned which roosters were more likely to "tell the truth" when giving the food call and which were prone to exaggeration in bids to mate. Hens learned to ignore "false food reports" from roosters who were mostly concerned with hopping onboard (my term, not the animal behaviorist's).

Hope to read about more clever chickens. Love this thread!

 

[murdeb]

I can go out on my back deck and shake the bag of dried mealworms and they will come running! And boy can they run fast! LOL!