Chicken Myths/Rumors: True or False, Please Share!

[MysteryChicken]

Chickens are not smart. They get out and then have no clue how to get back in by using the same way they got out through. However, as like many other animals and humans they can be channeled, not taught, by the known Pavlov operant conditioning.
Evidence: Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849–1936) The same study that he did with a dog, I have done with my girls since they went out to their own coop at about 12 wks. They love oats. However, I began to give them oats only if they were up in the roost before night time. I also did not allowed for them to go over any other to get oats. After a few eeks of everyday of the same thing, they all came to the roost to get the oats and they do pretty good at not jumping anyone, nor pecking and to wait until I came to them. I was really not into a training mode but more to make it easier for me. However, the see me in the evenings with a mason jar and all I have to do is hit softly with my nail in teh can top and they all come and I walk into teh coop and they are all crazy to get in teh roost because they have learned that only there is where they get oats. Scratch and everything else is in their bowls but oats, they have to be in the roost. Darn, it is hard being a teacher and stop teaching,lol

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5306232/

 

[Dreamzchaser]

Depends on the chicken.

I can ground my most adventurous Marans by trimming the primaries on one wing.

I haven't figured out how to ground my leggy, rangy, lightweight cull Blue Australorp cockerel. I've clipped all the flight feathers on both wings and he still got out of the grow-out pen twice yesterday.

My grandmother told me once, like 40 years ago,lol to cut only one wing. That makes more sence to me since they will not have the same aerodynamic to flight properly. I would think.

 

[MysteryChicken]

My grandmother told me once, like 40 years ago,lol to cut only one wing. That makes more sence to me since they will not have the same aerodynamic to flight properly. I would think.

I clip both wings. I still have issues with those with only one wing clipped.

Clipping doesn't work all the time, had a chicken with both clipped wings still make it over the run's fence.

 

[Whiskybear]

Roosters only crow at daybreak.

Definitely false! I keep quail, not chickens, but I have neighbors within a quarter mile. I know for a fact that roosters will crow any time of day I try to take a nap.

 

[Dreamzchaser]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5306232/

Very good read. It is not saying that chickens are smart or intelligent. They can be cognitively changed with reinforced behavior such as roost before oats, They come to see intheir own that when they do something they get something. That is the reinforced behavior that we all want. Pure Psychology and same as for humans. you cannot put a plate in front of a child and never model what to do with it. You have to model and show and give clues as to what to do. That is the way we learn. Big story as forever I have heard about a child left in teh wild will not learn to speak. Same if a child is never spoken to, they will not learn to speak but however will make sounds because it is in DNA and part of teh original cognitive code. It is all about repetition. I only have to look at my dog if she is near the table at dinner time and she knows to make a v line the other side of teh house. She is not allowed to watch me eating nor anyone at all. It took a long time but I keep reinforcing the behavior I want by later giving her some leftovers or a treat. All animals can learn some type of conditioning. The earlier it starts, the more successfull you become.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

In my experience, my chickens are smarter than my beagle.

 

[Dreamzchaser]

I clip both wings. I still have issues with those with only one wing clipped.

Clipping doesn't work all the time, had a chicken with both clipped wings still make it over the run's fence.

Both clipped will still give them the aerodynamic it needed. AThink of a plane. They can only go so far if they loose one wing. Same is true with avian birds that can do some flying. My sebright. Smaller than a pigeon, 8 wks old, tried to get her in teh coop and she flew right to teh top of the house. A day later, she had one wing clipped. She was not able to lift-off because the proportion of one of her wings could not do teh force with the air to take up flight.

 

[Dreamzchaser]

In my experience, my chickens are smarter than my beagle.

Beagles are pretty smart. They are used for hunting. Great at smelling,lol you need to hide the treat really well,lol

 

[MysteryChicken]

Both clipped will still give them the aerodynamic it needed. AThink of a plane. They can only go so far if they loose one wing. Same is true with avian birds that can do some flying. My sebright. Smaller than a pigeon, 8 wks old, tried to get her in teh coop and she flew right to teh top of the house. A day later, she had one wing clipped. She was not able to lift-off because the proportion of one of her wings could not do teh force with the air to take up flight.

One wing still failed.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Beagles are pretty smart. They are used for hunting. Great at smelling,lol you need to hide the treat really well,lol

That is why I emphasized "beagle". Beagles are supposedly a super smart breed of dog. And you just flat out said. "chickens are not smart". Um, hello? The 26 chickens I've had were all smarter than my beagle!