Are chickens dumb?

[cowhlb]

Chickens are not dumb. My pullet found the tinniest hole in the fence and went through it!

 

[PrintedPerfect]

Yesterday morning I looked out my back window and saw a Hawk eating on one of my RIR hens, my wife went and hollered at it while I was getting my rifle so it got lucky. I have 6 other girls and they stayed hidden in the brush until I got my outdoor clothes on and spent the rest of the day with my rifle hoping the hawk would come back. The girls came out from the brush and hung close to me until they went in the coop. Today they just kind of hung around the area the RIR was killed and made low calls, so I think that they do feel something. I also talk to my girls alot they are very good listeners, about my problems or I talk to them about plans to make their coop and run better for them, I'm not crazy but I love my girls and I get something from talking to them also. So I believe what you are saying about the chickens intelligence and feelings.

I am so sorry to hear about the hawk, that's so very sad. After the knucklehead dog got my chicken I went out and bought a BB gun. I don't want to hurt the dog, especially since he is doing what (hunting) dogs do, but his owner wont keep him put up.

But with my chickens it does seem like they pay attention and have some sort of feelings. I may be projecting the feelings onto them, and I know they don't have emotions like us. But, I do think they have an inherit trust with me and my daughter where they don't with neighbors. And my girl that is broody right now just purrs like crazy when I go out and sit with her and pet her.

 

[PirocaKeeper]

What an interesting question. I am one of those people that like to think they have emotions, although I am not sure they do in the same way we do. Intelligence, I think they have, probably a little more than other people think. I can only speak from experience with my own chickens. I have had a few hens go broody and all except for one I was able to deter from the very strong motherly instincts. This one particular one, would not give up. I locked her up in a chicken run for at least a week and every single time I let her loose, she would run to the very same nesting box. So finally, I decided, I am not going to be able to keep her locked up, my chicken free range, so I don't really enjoy the idea of having them locked up, but that is another topic. In any event, I used to remove every day all the eggs, other hens use to lay daily in her nest. Until one day, I realized for about 2 weeks, she was hiding this one egg in the back end of the nest. So low and behold, she hatched this one tiny chick and from my perspective (imposing my own human feelings), she seemed to be the happiest hen in the flock.

I had another hen, that I let hatch eggs and also introduced at night while she was hatching, a few chicks I purchased. I have to say, it looked like she was fine with them for a day or so after she got out, and then she kept making funny noises every time she looked at them, I thought perhaps they were too many, but finally by the end of the second day, she had it, she was not having the little ones, she was not mean per se, but she was clearly rejecting them. So I took all of them (all) and brought them inside the house and raised them together. Well she saw me, bringing them inside the house and for about 4 or 5 days, she tried in any possible way to get into the house, I assume that she still could hear them. But I felt very lousy, seeing her so desperately looking for them.

In my opinion, if you are interested in going through the experience of having babies around, then perhaps your best bet would be to get fertile eggs. She will sit on them, so she will have no idea they are not her own, it is not that different in nature, where you have multiple hens laying together in the same nest. Just make sure you keep checking your broody hen every couple of days to make sure she is not loosing too much weight. I know in nature the do what they do, but I kept checking mines and sometimes took them outside and gave them food an fresh water. I think it was more for my own satisfaction, I think they would have been fine, as long as there was food and fresh water always available.

By the way I have 28 hens and they are all very friendly, I can pick up any of them at any time. All kinds of breeds. There are 4 of them though, that when I sit out there in the yard with them, they have the urge to jump on my lap and clean their feathers on my lap, sometimes they very gently peck the hairs on my arms or beard. I love it, whether they are just acting up on instinct or not, the emotion I feel is the same. So there, I my opinion, not so much of a question whether they are or not intelligent, or whether they have emotions as we understand them, but more of a question on how do you feel around them. The end result for me is the same, I love them, look out for their best interest and health and allow them to interact with me in ways that make me relaxed. I think a lot of chicken people understand all the different ways other chicken people may feel. I think you will get good factual information from people and some subjective feedback from others.

So glad you asked this question. I can enjoy reading the thought process of the other posts.

 

[WickeeChickee]

If this link magically works, It's my documentation of they morning after I introduced 3 day olds to my broody. Judge for yourself the extent of her emotion - knowing that she literally had only seen them fit less than 2 hours at thir point this video was taken. She went on to raise them into perfect pullets!

 

[aart]

If this link magically works, It's my documentation of they morning after I introduced 3 day olds to my broody. Judge for yourself the extent of her emotion - knowing that she literally had only seen them fit less than 2 hours at thir point this video was taken. She went on to raise them into perfect pullets!

Pure instinct on the part of the broody......a wonderful thing to observe, as they don't always accept chicks that didn't hatch under them.

 

[ChookRanger]

I will just go ahead and say "no" chickens are not dumb.
Wickee Chickee that video was very sweet.

 

[PrintedPerfect]

What an interesting question. I am one of those people that like to think they have emotions, although I am not sure they do in the same way we do. Intelligence, I think they have, probably a little more than other people think. I can only speak from experience with my own chickens. I have had a few hens go broody and all except for one I was able to deter from the very strong motherly instincts. This one particular one, would not give up. I locked her up in a chicken run for at least a week and every single time I let her loose, she would run to the very same nesting box. So finally, I decided, I am not going to be able to keep her locked up, my chicken free range, so I don't really enjoy the idea of having them locked up, but that is another topic. In any event, I used to remove every day all the eggs, other hens use to lay daily in her nest. Until one day, I realized for about 2 weeks, she was hiding this one egg in the back end of the nest. So low and behold, she hatched this one tiny chick and from my perspective (imposing my own human feelings), she seemed to be the happiest hen in the flock.


So glad you asked this question. I can enjoy reading the thought process of the other posts.

This is what mine did! I didn't take it as hiding eggs initially, but hindsight - I bet that's what she was doing! I didn't know she was laying in the old hen house. I noticed her going in there a few times so went out to investigate and there were a bunch of eggs!

I enjoy reading the replies and thoughts too - and thank you so much for sharing your experiences. It really helps, I appreciate your time!

 

[PrintedPerfect]

If this link magically works, It's my documentation of they morning after I introduced 3 day olds to my broody. Judge for yourself the extent of her emotion - knowing that she literally had only seen them fit less than 2 hours at thir point this video was taken. She went on to raise them into perfect pullets!

That's too cute! Mine's been sitting for ~3 weeks but I think I will try the fertile eggs. Someone had posted she'll feel movement in the eggs and stay on them.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

I don't think chickens are dumb based on what I've observed. However, I will say that - like people - their intelligence seems to vary from bird to bird. My barred rocks seem to be the most inquisitive of my bunch and I certainly think that being inquisitive relates to intelligence. They're the first to come forth and check out something new when introduced and they have a tendency to hang with you and watch you much like a dog when you're working in or around the coop. They have enough intelligence to be manipulative in an attempt to coerce food and treats when I enter the coop. Certainly it's a learned response but you have to have some intelligence to learn something.

Do they have emotions? Well, I had a broody hen that hatched out only one chick. She was an excellent mother and stuck with that chick until it was a young cockerel and began crowing. At that point I found another home for the now almost grown "chick". The Mom hen immediately quit laying and for several days walked around the coop clucking and talking, looking for her chick. It was three weeks before she began to lay again.

Take from it what you will but my thought is that her mothering instinct should have been long gone, especially since she began laying again when the chick was about 5 weeks old. The removal of the chick certainly didn't trigger a fear response, which will sometimes make them quit laying. I have to think she was actually missing her boy.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Are chickens intelligent? A lot of what they do is driven by instinct but they do have the ability to problem solve and learn. People will derisively call then birdbrains as if they are stupid. I don’t consider them stupid. I think their nature causes them to approach problems different that I would approach a problem. They might not even see it as a problem. Some people think other people are stupid because not every human thinks the same way they do.

Do chickens have emotions? I think they do. A lot of what they do is instinctive, like a mother hen taking care of her chicks. I don’t necessarily think the cooing means the hen is loving her chicks, but is more of her way of communicating with them and assuring them that things are OK. I do think that chickens can form bonds with other specific chickens and will miss them if they are taken away. You often have sub-flocks in a flock.

But chickens are prey animals. It is pretty common for chickens to be removed from a flock by a predator. That is the way they evolved. If a chicken suddenly disappears other chickens may miss then for a bit but they quickly get over it and form new bonds. They adjust the pecking order and get on with life. If a broody hen loses one chick she doesn’t miss a beat but takes care of the rest. If she loses all of them she will look for them far a day or two but quickly gets over it and rejoins the flock. Once she builds her food reserves back up she starts laying again.