Bird Empathy

[eonChancery]

Recently experienced in my small flock: empathy. 3 hens actually stopped laying days before one old “mother hen” died.
I have become very interested in not only chickens, but all birds. Does anyone have any stories of bird empathy?

 

[HuskerHens18]

My White Crested Blue Polish and ISA brown will cuddle with my dying 4 month olds. I'm struggling to treat coccidia and I'm losing chicks a lot, and it never fails one of those two will be huddled right next to a dying chick. I'll isolate both to a private cage where they can huddle together until the chick passes.

One time I was having a bad day and crying outside and out of nowhere my ISA brown came over and flew into my arms and cuddled with me.

I was free ranging my adult flock and 3 month olds at the same time and they never intermingled, ever. A hawk flew over my 3 month olds while I was locked inside a goat pen, and my King Rooster of the adult flock left his own hens and threw himself over the 3 month olds with his wings stretched out. He then chased them all into HIS coop and stood in the doorway to watch the hawk until it left. It was amazing to witness!

 

[eonChancery]

I do see it in all of the neighborhood birds as a hawk or eagle or any predator is near. They scream...fly insanely. They make a huge fuss...every bird . Are they just scared or giving warning, trying to protect? I don’t know. It seems like a warning with the noise, and they would not warn if they did not care, correct?

 

[HuskerHens18]

I do see it in all of the neighborhood birds as a hawk or eagle or any predator is near. They scream...fly insanely. They make a huge fuss...every bird . Are they just scared or giving warning, trying to protect? I don’t know. It seems like a warning with the noise, and they would not warn if they did not care, correct?

Exactly! They're trying to protect eachother!

 

[eonChancery]

Exactly! They're trying to protect eachother!

They do protect! Is that empathy for one another? Or instinct? Survival instinct?

 

[eonChancery]

All three hens stopped laying for at least 3 days. I knew that the fourth hen was weak and tired,old and struggling but I did not know how close she was to death. They obviously knew.

 

[eonChancery]

I cannot see any reason for a disruption in laying except for the stress of this loss in their family.

 

[HuskerHens18]

They do protect! Is that empathy for one another? Or instinct? Survival instinct?

Perhaps it's a mix of all three?

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

wow... I love animals! I rescued 3 buff orp chicks from a feed store and all almost died on the way home, I had to help them drink, eat, not get trampled and walk. I got every chick saver I could find and gave it to them (they couldn't even get up) within the next 24 hours 2 of them were Great!! healthy as ever! one on the other hand was injured and not doing so well...the biggest and healthiest buff orp snuggled her for 2 days strait and started bringing her mealworms and eventually helped her eat and drink. I give my Annabell ALL the credit for my Peach being alive and well today!! it was kinda like a miracle!! they were and are my first chicks ever, and I have no explanation as to how Annabell knew what to do, but I am so happy as I would have been heart broken to lose a chick!! I thank God every time I think about it!!

 

[Shepshill]

I bought three week-old chicks. At about ten or twelve weeks, one chick developed classic signs of Marek’s disease— paralysis, Marek’s split. I removed the sick one and put her in a small pen adjacent to the run that her two companions were in—fearing that the two healthy chicks might pick on her. Instead, the two spent all day watching her. When she could no longer eat we had her euthanized. Soon enough, the second chick succumbed. The one healthy chick spent day and night next to the sick one. When the sick one stopped eating we had her euthanized, too. It was only after I removed the second chick that the healthy one began venturing outside to explore her run. Sadly, she developed symptoms a few weeks later, too. While the whole Marek’s experience was truly awful, I was really struck by capacity for empathy my chicks demonstrated. I am new to chickens and heard often about how cruel chickens can be to flockmates. I never once heard about how empathetic they can be.