can chickens love people?

[dearmeghann]

I think the word bond is best to describe our relationships with our birds. I love our chickens dearly. I can spend hours (and do) just watching them interact and exist in the world. I think we have a mutually beneficial partnership - we provide love and snacks, and they provide a multitude of lessons. Their ability to show us how powerful mindfulness and listening to your body's needs are? Can never repay them for that!

Our new chicks have been our first time experiencing physical affection. I worry it might go away, but I appreciate what we have right now. Our older girls never got clingy or let us hold them. But when Molly, our buff orp, comes barreling at me to see if I have food or treats? It's like her version of a hug, of appreciation for my existence.

 

[Wings for Life]

In my experience, no.

I had a chicken I was very bonded to, Pepper. She sought me out for snuggle time and was one of the few I could trust to not take cheap shots at my hands.

Everything changed overnight. Pepper attacked me when I reached down near another chicken. Put a hole in my hand. From that point forward, she was very aggressive.

Anyone want to guess what the catalyst was? She started laying eggs.

I had to rehome Pepper. She was too stressful to be around. So no, chickens do not love you. They can learn to trust and be comforted by you, but that is not love. I, however, love my chickens dearly. That is enough for me.

Love is fluid and for some its never changing and for others it changes overnight.
You loved Pepper until she turned on you, so you turned on her. That's the way love can be. We can love something until it no longer serves any meaning in our lives or if it makes life unpleasant. This is the same with both animals and humans alike.
How many people have we loved and then fallen out of love with or maybe even hated later on?
There are different types of love but it still all fits in the same category. Love is that which binds, if there's no more binding, love can fade away.
One can argue love is that of a parent/child or husband/wife which depending how you perceive it can be true or false, since there are some humans and animals that abandon their babes, and then for humans there is divorce... so what truly is love? Its a fluid emotion that can come and go that we all experience differently, same goes for animals.
So when you love your animals and they show you love back, you can rest assured it fits into that category of love, on both sides

 

[Jojosine]

As a budding biologist I think that chickens behave the same way to us as they would to other chickens, which includes preferring certain individuals over others. So, yes your chicken seems to prefer you over other individuals whether they be members of the flock or other humans. Chickens can recognise up to 100 individuals and that includes humans.

As a chicken keeper I have seen affection between two chickens when one hen was dying and another sat next to her for a long time (while all the other chickens didn't give a monkeys).
Very early on I also had one chicken I named "the one who considers herself to be my friend" because she would follow me around and sit next to me on the bench. I don't think she 'loved' me, but she obviously liked being near me, maybe for safety or food, who knows, but it was quite cute.

 

[thecatumbrella]

Love is fluid and for some its never changing and for others it changes overnight.
You loved Pepper until she turned on you, so you turned on her. That's the way love can be. We can love something until it no longer serves any meaning in our lives or if it makes life unpleasant. This is the same with both animals and humans alike.
How many people have we loved and then fallen out of love with or maybe even hated later on?
There are different types of love but it still all fits in the same category. Love is that which binds, if there's no more binding, love can fade away.
One can argue love is that of a parent/child or husband/wife which depending how you perceive it can be true or false, since there are some humans and animals that abandon their babes, and then for humans there is divorce... so what truly is love? Its a fluid emotion that can come and go that we all experience differently, same goes for animals.
So when you love your animals and they show you love back, you can rest assured it fits into that category of love, on both sides

For the record, my feelings for Pepper did not change; only her feelings towards me.

I understand the point you're trying to make. I believe many - if not most - people would agree with you. For me, love is not that transient. This is not necessarily a good quality (sometimes you can continue to love someone well beyond their expiration date), but it explains why I cannot assign the emotion to chickens. They are too fair weathered.

Just a difference of opinion. It's been interesting to read everyone's thoughts on the subject, for sure!

 

[Wings for Life]

For the record, my feelings for Pepper did not change; only her feelings towards me.

I understand the point you're trying to make. I believe many - if not most - people would agree with you. For me, love is not that transient. This is not necessarily a good quality (sometimes you can continue to love someone well beyond their expiration date), but it explains why I cannot assign the emotion to chickens. They are too fair weathered.

Just a difference of opinion. It's been interesting to read everyone's thoughts on the subject, for sure!

Agreed we all have different views and see and experience love and life differently.
For me, there is no doubt in my mind a chicken can love. I see it everyday how they can be towards each other and how they love their human family, how they mourn the loss of a flock mate. All my girls want nothing more than to spend time with us.. besides maybe eating bugs lol. Sometimes animals I think are better at showing love than some humans. The are very loyal and most will never leave unless they are forced thru death.
I also observe chickens can experience happiness, excitement, hatred, compassion, sadness, jealousy and resentment, so why not love?...they to me are alot like little humans in their personalities as many animals are.
Maybe Pepper just had a hard time with hormones, kinda like a teenager. Either way I know you loved her and sometimes things just dont always work out the way we want them to. If we only had that easy button in life
I do love this post, it is very interesting reading everyone's personal experiences. Amazing how love can bring people together...even if its just a word on a forum