chicken memory question:)

[JerseyGiantfolk]

I know cows and dogs will remember you, so maybe your roo will remember you if he's imprinted on you

 

[centrarchid]

pipthepeep,

He will retrain quickly. My preferred method involves mealworms. Birds will even turn down free-range fare to get at mealworms. As juveniles they will fly considerable distances to get meal worms as a video I made a while back depicts.

 

[pipthepeep]

So, all in all, I was out of town for about a month and a half,...and I came back to a rooster who seems to be even more attached to me. The minute I walked into the chicken pen, he ran up to me and jumped straight up in the air, so i was concerned for a second that he was trying to attack me, but after that things were back to normal. In fact, he seems to have an even greater propensity to follow me around (ie, up the stairs and into my my apartment) now than he did before... I have always read that chickens "remember" and recognize their flock members for up to 20 days, but then after that they have no memory of their previous interactions with each other. But I guess if he is truly imprinted on me, then it makes sense that that would never change because it is a different sort of attachment. Anyway, just wanted to report that my weird "experiment" was a success

 

[galanie]

I rehomed a young rooster and had to take him back a few months later. He started out giving the danger call when I came close. I'd say he remembered me pretty well!