Chicken Empathy

[anvia]

For those of you who understood Amber and her new friends... here they are - amazingly free ranging - the very lovely Amber & them all together...
Amber is the hen in the background by the gate being with them but in her own space. Obviously some of them are lacking in feathers.... and it’s still early days
& I’m rubbish at IT - so if this goes horribly wrong - forgive me!

 

[anvia]

For those of you who understood Amber and her new friends... here they are - amazingly free ranging - the very lovely Amber & them all together...View attachment 1514268 View attachment 1514268 View attachment 1514265 View attachment 1514268
Amber is the hen in the background by the gate being with them but in her own space. Obviously some of them are lacking in feathers.... and it’s still early days
& I’m rubbish at IT - so if this goes horribly wrong - forgive me!

It went wrong - apologies!
Amber is the one in the photo by herself... - the gate is behind me taking the photo! - I am rubbish at IT!

 

[MROO]

My little Nankin Bantam pullet, Evie, did the same thing with our younger chicks. They had to be pulled from Mama because another hen attacked and seriously injured most of them. The poor babies were only a few days old. Evie was not quite four weeks older, but I only had the one brooder, so we crossed our fingers and gave it a try.

Evie didn't seem to do it on her own, but all five of the little ones crowded under her to hide ... well, at least as far "under" as five babies can get under a month old youngster. It only took her a few days to step into the role of Mama. The babies are not quite three months old, now, and Evie still plays Mama to them. It's cute!

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Chickens have feelings and do experience pain whether physical or emotional. I think that people don’t want to give animals emotions because it’s easier to justify how cows, pigs, sheep, chickens, etc are raised if they’re just “dumb animals” and not living beings just like ourselves.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Poultry and waterfowl don’t fall under the Humane Slaughter Act because they apparently don’t feel pain, which is absolute garbage!

 

[CannedMonster]

My little Nankin Bantam pullet, Evie, did the same thing with our younger chicks. They had to be pulled from Mama because another hen attacked and seriously injured most of them. The poor babies were only a few days old. Evie was not quite four weeks older, but I only had the one brooder, so we crossed our fingers and gave it a try.

Evie didn't seem to do it on her own, but all five of the little ones crowded under her to hide ... well, at least as far "under" as five babies can get under a month old youngster. It only took her a few days to step into the role of Mama. The babies are not quite three months old, now, and Evie still plays Mama to them. It's cute!

I watch her a lot with them because I want to be sure I’m not making assumptions based on my emotions about what I’m observing.
It’s clear that she chooses to come over to them each time.
The others will approach but quickly move on to other things.
Cricket really seems to prefer to be around them.
It’s amazing that your little Nankin would help such young chicks when she was pretty young too.
I do think Cricket will be a good mother.
I’m excited to see it one day.

 

[Barb Root Hinkkanen]

Please share your stories/experiences where you witnessed chickens having empathy or at least sympathy.

Here’s mine:
My NHR, Rusty, had fallen ill and would stay back and rest in the run while the others free ranged. My top hen, Margo, a Brown Leghorn, was found shoulder-to-shoulder with Rusty, keeping her company instead of running around with the rest of the flock. Margo would also stay down and sleep beside Rusty when she was too weak to get up to the roost. Margo did this every night until Rusty passed, and that very night was back up on the roost with the others.
As sad as the situation was, it was fascinating to watch, and permanently changed my view on the cognitive abilities of chickens.

I understand. I lost my first girlie this Spring. She disappeared. No evidence of predators, no feathers, nothing. I was so upset. I looked for her every day. My other girl, Wendigo, acted so strange. She quit roosting; she started sleeping in a different spot. The saddest thing was, every morning when I let her out, she would run to the edge of the woods and call and call. She would keep that up for the longest time, then she would hang her head and go closer to the house. She did this for weeks; after about a month, I got another girlie for her. She perked up, became the dominant, and, began acting normal again. I miss our Lucy. She was hand fed and very friendly. Our new girlie, Penelope, is friendly, but not to jump up beside me and sit on the outside table. She would let my son's girlfriend paint her nails. I guess I will have to get a little bitty one and raise it by hand but do not want a rooster, so...

I am sorry for your loss. Chickens are such characters.

 

[CannedMonster]

I understand. I lost my first girlie this Spring. She disappeared. No evidence of predators, no feathers, nothing. I was so upset. I looked for her every day. My other girl, Wendigo, acted so strange. She quit roosting; she started sleeping in a different spot. The saddest thing was, every morning when I let her out, she would run to the edge of the woods and call and call. She would keep that up for the longest time, then she would hang her head and go closer to the house. She did this for weeks; after about a month, I got another girlie for her. She perked up, became the dominant, and, began acting normal again. I miss our Lucy. She was hand fed and very friendly. Our new girlie, Penelope, is friendly, but not to jump up beside me and sit on the outside table. She would let my son's girlfriend paint her nails. I guess I will have to get a little bitty one and raise it by hand but do not want a rooster, so...

I am sorry for your loss. Chickens are such characters.

You could get a sex-link chick or a chick from an auto-sexing breed so you know it’s a female.
I have a gold sex-link hen that is a great layer and very friendly.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

After I rehomed most of my flock my Cornish cross pullet Eleanor became depressed. You could see the sadness in her eyes and how much she missed her friends. She no longer would forage in the backyard as actively as she used to, she would just sit in the grass and close her eyes. She passed away in her sleep one night. I still miss her, she was so loving and full of life. She will be missed.
This is a picture of Eleanor taken before I had to rehome my flock you can see that it almost looks like she’s smiling.

 

[MissChick@dee]

I spend a lot of time with my chickens. I think people who do can’t help but recognize their awsomeness. I have a lone survivor from last year a LH named Judy. She looked like a package of hamburger with some white feathers. She was a good patient and is still healing.
The bond we have is incredible and strong she’s so intelligent. I got new friends for her this spring who are now 6 months old. She was really being a snot about roosting at night and after trying to let them work it out I’d had enough! I stomped into the run all dramatic and loud scolding her as I ran her into a corner. As I wagged my finger in her face and tapped her beak once or twice. I felt like I had embarrassed her enough. What did she do? She flew up into my arms and made a cooing cry I’d never heard before. We cuddled for a bit and all was well for the night. For the next couple of days she’d do the same thing. Asking for reassurance. Eventually things returned to normal. I felt awful. So to say chickens don’t have emotions well...you’ll never hear that from me.