Chicken Breed Intelligence

[Jester57]

I’ve just gone through a situation that seriously made me question the basic survival instincts my chickens possess. Fortunately, I turned out to be the dummy, not the chickens, but it made me wonder if there are chicken breeds noted for their intelligence or lack thereof?

 

[HappyClucker7]

Do you mean intelligence as in doing tricks or staying safe from predators?

 

[Jester57]

Do you mean intelligence as in doing tricks or staying safe from predators?

That's a great question and I'd have to go with trainability, or, more exactly, the ability to solve problems.

 

[LizzzyJo]

I’ve heard people say different things, but my laying hens have really been hit or miss regardless of breed. I have heard that meat chickens are dumb, but they’re also young so it may not be fair. ?

 

[AGeese]

I’ve just gone through a situation that seriously made me question the basic survival instincts my chickens possess. Fortunately, I turned out to be the dummy, not the chickens, but it made me wonder if there are chicken breeds noted for their intelligence or lack thereof?

Mine are pretty aware of the surroundings. But I've seen that with fish too. It's not really a question for me, but how is there not some sort of proto-reasoning harkening back from an ancient lineage.

 

[DarJones]

When the guy coined the phrase "bird brain" he was looking at a chicken. They act mostly based on instinct with very little thought involved.

 

[Isadora]

When the guy coined the phrase "bird brain" he was looking at a chicken.

I'm pretty sure he was looking at a guinea.

 

[AGeese]

When the guy coined the phrase "bird brain" he was looking at a chicken. They act mostly based on instinct with very little thought involved.

He found application for the phrase within the realm of humanity?

 

[Coops Dad]

One of our Ameracaunas solved our dog's problem of not being able to catch chickens by flying out of the back pasture and into the dog run so she could scratch for whatever it is in dog poop that chickens like. The hen's entire life has been spent keeping a step or two ahead of one of our dogs or the other's snapping jaws. Literally from the time it was a month old, dodging teeth and practicing the art of the "head fake/stutter step/change direction" thing. All that doesn't help in an 8' x 24' dog run made of 6' chain link panels. Our main dog's problem was solved but the chicken's problems just began.

Now the chicken is trying to solve the problem of exactly how to push up daisies.

So, not so intelligent that I've noticed.

 

[HappyClucker7]

That's a great question and I'd have to go with trainability, or, more exactly, the ability to solve problems.

Then it depends on the individual chickens. Any chicken is capable of learning something basic, like coming when called (all mine do). But as far as actual tricks go, it's really not something breed specific. You would need a calm, trusting bird, but also one that has an attention span longer than 2 seconds. Sebrights seem to be popular trick birds, but again, just because you have a Sebright doesn't mean it's going to do tricks.