can chickens love people?

[mychickenismybestfriend]

I definitely agree with @Shadrach- even if they can't show it the way we can, chickens are very real and intelligent creatures with feelings. If you love them, they love you back to the best of their abilities. My hen has been an amazing companion, and I know I love her a lot, and I think she feels similarly towards me with how comfortable she seems around me compared to around most other folk she isn't used to. I love you Hazel! <3

 

[Pukkits]

The responses to this post are beautiful. From a science perspective, most companion animals we keep don't have brains like ours, cannot physically operate the neurons of human love and operate more on instinct. I do think animals, including chickens, can love people. They just love the way their little brains can. I'm not sure my chickens love me, not because they can't but currently none feel that way about me. They trust me, and they associate me with good things though. Hopefully one of this years pullets will decide my attempts to forge bonds with them might grow into love. I have hopes for a chocolate orpington named Pudding, who since adolescence has been trying to be near me, even when it means escaping the brooder.

 

[Seaslug]

From a science perspective, most mammal companion animals DO have a brain like a human's. We are remarkably similar.

The more I learn about the natural world the more I come to see all life as being sophisticated. Nearly all life can tell self from other and make decisions about what is best for it (with or without consciousness.) That is remarkable.

IMO, it is more likely that an animal is more capable than predicted rather than less. Sure, Clever Hans wasn't doing math, but animals certainly are not automatons driven only by instinct.

 

[Finchbreeder]

What BBH said near the beginning.

 

[MROO]

i was cuddling with my hen today, and i was wondering, do chickens love like dogs do?

Whether or not it's "love" has been up for debate for ages, but no matter what you call it, they can definitely form strong bonds with "their" people. Me? I'm all for Chicken Love!

 

[kumokumo]

kumo, my hen that originally inspired me to make this post, is still a very loving and gentle baby ! she just turned two years old this month! i hope she knows how special she is, and she is a wonderful example of the reality of having chickens as pets

 

[Wings for Life]

If you look up the definition of love, I think that answers the question
Love is that which binds and all species have the capability to love, just because they cant show and communicate it like we do doesn't make it any less so.
Even humans show and perceive love differently. Everything is different by design, yet everything is made from the same force.
For those who observe can see it

 

[thecatumbrella]

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.

 

[DonyaQuick]

I have one girl who came to me when she got flystrike. She let me examine her, even though she didn't like to be touched before. She let me treat her, though it could not have been pleasant. And for a few weeks after, she would come to me and let me pet her. I believe she knew I could help, and was grateful.

This is something I have been wondering about lately...perhaps a bit tangential to the "love" issue, but not entirely. My birds also come to me when they have a health issue, whether trivial or serious, and they all get more snuggly afterwards. I have one hen in particular who has recurring bumblefoot because she unfortunately sometimes grows a mangled feather out of the bottom of her heel pad. The periodic extraction of that mess and subsequent treatment involves long unpleasant sessions. I was sure she'd eventually start avoiding me due to associating coming to me and going in the house with pain, but it's been the opposite; I have to assume she makes the longer time-span association with her recovery. Each time that foot is bothering her, she glues herself to me and won't leave so I know what's up and take her in to check. Not even my dog is that good...whoever hands her to the vet for shots gets classified as evil for a minimum of 2 weeks before she eventually forgets it all happened; it's much more of a short here-and-now association than I see in my chickens.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Its something we probably can’t know the answer to.

Anything is possible. I take the view that people generally anthropomorphize chickens too much.

And yet… I have seen chickens that in my opinion, get attached to certain people or otherwise seek out human contact for reasons other than food. Is it “love?” Do animals “love?” Is it actually “love” when a dog seeks you out and shows affection? What is “love?” I doubt any chicken would lay down its life for me. It may be possible for a particular rooster to flog an attacker on my behalf and subject itself to danger in the process for my sake. Love? Instinct? I dunno.

Some chickens seek out some people to receive affection or companionship from. That’s all I’m comfortable putting forward.