A lot of folks dont think chickens have emotions...

[SpottedCrow]

LOL @ Ivan!!!

Mine are in bed by the time CSI comes on...it's past their bedtime so that's not a problem. Besides it's rated for adults.

I think that they can also hear a tone of voice like a dog that knows it's done wrong. If I say "Obelisk the Tormentor Mihalopoulos", she gets a guilty look on her face and runs like heck.

 

[poppycat]

I know I'm jumping in on this thread waaaaay late, but here's my two cents worth,

The only way we can clear up this debate for good is for one of us to be reincarnated as a chicken.... with internet access to post their findings.

If it's me, spoil me rotten in your house please. But leave off the diapers, where's the dignity in those?

 

[thndrdancr]

Ok, poppycat, training it is for you, come to my house reincarnated. Or Spotted Crow's.
Maybe in the winter, if I have a lot of time on my hands, I will try to papertrain my Fussy.

How late is too late to start this?

She is just a young adult? She STILL likes being neat tho, THAT is the only reason I think she is trainable. Hates that poo on her feet, just hates it. Oh by the way, coop has been hooked up now for what...two months?..still no poop in it. Weird chickens. I rolled the tv cart next to the coop, so now they have stopped pooping on IT!

Apparently its part of the coop now????
Tried it with the new baby chicks today, they just arent getting it.

Watch for updates....

 

[thndrdancr]

Actually I want to be serious here for a minute. I didnt realize that rabbits could be litter trained until this summer. I used to have a rabbit as a child and I dont remember it being any more or even AS smart as my chickens. Perhaps I had a really dumb rabbit, I dont know. I never tried to litter train it either, didnt know it could be done.
But to those with bunnies, do you feel they are a lot more intelligent than a chicken, or it is just like dogs, some are dumb as posts (sorry dog owners but my dog was one of those) and some are amazingly intelligent. I am beginning to think its just as it is with dogs. Varies by dog..or chicken.

I am really not trying to give emotions to my chickens, anthropomorphise or whatever. When it comes to my red sex link, she is just a chicken, altho she DID figure out the dog treat ball, I even have pics, if anyone wants to see them. But she just doesnt seem too emotional.

My other chicken jumps on me for support, a petting (even when she KNOWS I dont have food, who knows-could be a dominance thing tho) and is just all around, and I dont have any other word to describe it, neurotic and well...WEIRD! Maybe she is a reincarnate!

 

[poppycat]

thndrdancr: I have a litter box " trained" rabbit. IMHO what is actually happening is that you are exploiting the rabbits natural instincts. The intelligent one is the human who can observe the rabbit's behavior and make adjustments in the environment. Same with dogs. A skilled trainer who knows how dogs instinctively behave can a HUGE difference in the eventual outcome.

 

[thndrdancr]

Thanks poppycat.

Well in that case, I could train her, since she hates to have her feet dirty, etc. Doesnt like mud on her feet either. She used to hold it when she was younger, as she didnt like "messing" her box, and would actually hold her poo's til I let her out to the point where I was worried, even posted about it here. Thus, her natural inclinations would work for me in that regard. Is the only reason I really ever thought about it...natural inclinations, you summed it up well. Thanks.

 

[Davaroo]

That being said, it is difficult to understand their chortling in unison

Thats easy: Flock creatures with highly developed social patterns. Chickens are known to give and respond to around 30 different vocalizations - more than cats and dogs combined. They need these developed communications schemes since they are prey and have to work together to survive.

I hypothesize that chooks are capable of at least rudimentary planning. In this instance: Conspiracy and malice aforethought.

Or learned response. Look at it either way. The best part of the beetle is the innards. Once that is attained, by someone, it's a fight then. Chooks have keen eyesight and highly developed social structure based on hierarchy - there may be less than malice and more of these behaviors at work than you know.

...we steal their eggs, we process them into this and that.

This goes to the core, then, doesn't it?. We are feeling guilty for being dominant and dread their supposed retribution, so we try to compensate by giving them things we cannot prove exist. Now THAT is an entire pantheon of emotion - ours, not theirs. Chickens dont plot such things, we merely worry that they may.
In the end, you either fervently want them to have emotions or you await the proof that they do. Count me in the latter group.

I have also seen my chickens reason extremely simple things out.

This is often tossed out as the aforementioned "proof." Chickens are actually renowned for their reasoning capacity - they are highly responsive and are capable of learning complex behaviors. Behavioralists use chickens as test subjects for this reason.. .they are faster than even dogs. Just like dogs, you can train a chicken to do all sorts of tricks and fun things, giving the impression that they are intelligent. All this is known, but alas not unique - many birds do it, along with many other sub-orders.

But, just because thay can learn to push colored buttons for a kernal of corn or to snag a juicy bug from a flockmate (much the same thing) in no way ASSURES higher-level emotion.

ABAC's post did not in any way contradict my posts, and since you agree with it, I'm calling it victory for the emotions side, even if it wasn't ME that swayed your opinion.

I am on the "wait and see side" of the fence. No one has yet proven anything, only having made a lot of well-worded and/or psuedoscientific statements. Call it gobbledegook, if you will. This includes myself. Given that, there is no other position to take but to wait and see.

The whole "chickens have 'chickeny emotions' which we can't understand (degree of emotion)," argument is open - I feel the jury is still out on that popularly vague, New Age fall-back. It's just like UFO's: I've never been in one, or even seen one, but I admit that the commonly held logic behind their existence has merit. Until one lands on my lawn, though, that is how it must remain.
If that counts as a victory for your side, should you feel the need for one, then I'm okay with that. Call it a victory, then, and wave the flag.​

 

[bantymum]

Hey elderoo, what do you do besides chook keeping?
I would love to sit next to you on a long haul flight!!!
You are very well spoken! I could match you but only after a few red wines!!!
sorry im not trying to hit on you!!! I just love reading your posts!!!

 

[Davaroo]

My greatest downfall is that I was on the debate team! I'm also a writer (articles and book in work), and my wife is a travel writer for a Morgan & Chase, which I partner in with her. Writers are little more than commentarists on the whole, with the occasional one able to stir the reader to greatness beyond themselves. Robert E. Raiford says that all commentarists are essentially complainers. SO that makes me that, at least.

Im also an engineering trained specialist and so am logical to a fault. This can get me into some corners, especially among intuiters like you find on such a board as this. Its not that I'm an unfeeling SOB - I love the Muppets and good blues music. But, I try to refrain from total leaps of conjecture. I prefer to jump from rock tp rock, instead of jumping off the cliff at every turn.

 

[pricem11]

Oh David, inference from a sample of one is the American way!

Mark