Chickens Watching Chicken Processing

[RaineyTN]

I separate the birds the day before and keep them in the barn where I process. Mainly to get them off feed but I think doing that the other birds really don’t pay any attention to me since I didn’t just walk in there and grab one of them out.

 

[Molpet]

I am a little on the fence about this.. BUT .. I learned something that I think might help a little to make your own decision.
We have a little rooster ( banty/Serama X) he is the bestest Roo ever to his hens..
I always thought chickens are just plain dumb.. and have no feelings one way or the other.Until I hatched Pee Peep ( his name,obviously..lol) out in a Brooder.The temp was wrong and he had to have a bath after hatching cause his feathers where like concrete.( lesson learned) He was a house chicken until we got more girls for him.He perks up when he sees them, he shows them where he finds food and makes really pretty babies.He is super talkative and just very friendly.he also snuggles up to you when he is carried around and goes to sleep.He absolutely has feeling for his hens..I can tell by his reactions towards them.Is it just chicken beein ga chicken? I dont know.. perhaps.. ( us animal lovers get accused of putting sentient notions on animals )I like to think they have feelings and are are just as sad to see someone they are close to,die!!.. My 2 cents

I , for one, would just rather not see them stressed or sad.

I had a roo and a jake that hated each other. I put the roo and some hens away from the turkeys. The moles tunneled and the electrical net fence went down. From a distance I seen the roo heading towards the turkeys and went after him. Before I could get there the jake had killed him. Half of his hens seen this. That night those hens were quite. The other hens were calling. I have to assume it was they were looking for him.

 

[bobbi-j]

I had a roo and a jake that hated each other. I put the roo and some hens away from the turkeys. The moles tunneled and the electrical net fence went down. From a distance I seen the roo heading towards the turkeys and went after him. Before I could get there the jake had killed him. Half of his hens seen this. That night those hens were quite. The other hens were calling. I have to assume it was they were looking for him.

They do notice changes in the flock - additions and subtractions.

 

[bobbi-j]

(although it has been scientifically proven that chickens can think about future events and plan accordingly).

I would be interested in seeing this research. Can you point me in the right direction to find it?

 

[Peepsi]

I would be interested in seeing this research. Can you point me in the right direction to find it?

The experiment was talked about in Gail Damerows book, "Storeys Guide to raising Chickens". The scientists set up a feeding station that had two buttons. If the chickens pecked the first button, it would get access to the food immediately, but the door would quickly close after a few seconds. If they pecked the other button, they would get access to the feed for a much longer period, but they had to wait a few minutes for it. The chickens learned this and began to choose the button that let them feed longer a majority of the time, even though there was no immediate reward. They basically anticipated a future event happening based on current choices.

 

[bobbi-j]

The experiment was talked about in Gail Damerows book, "Storeys Guide to raising Chickens". The scientists set up a feeding station that had two buttons. If the chickens pecked the first button, it would get access to the food immediately, but the door would quickly close after a few seconds. If they pecked the other button, they would get access to the feed for a much longer period, but they had to wait a few minutes for it. The chickens learned this and began to choose the button that let them feed longer a majority of the time, even though there was no immediate reward. They basically anticipated a future event happening based on current choices.

Interesting - thanks for sharing! But I don’t think that supports chickens watching their flock mates being processed and realizing in their little chicken brains that they may someday be heading to the chopping block. That would require them to be able to reason.

The experiment you shared shows that with repetition, they can be conditioned to make certain choices (like the piano-playing chickens at the amusement park I saw as a kid - chicken was kept in a cage with a little piano, you put in a quarter, chicken pecked at the piano and got a few grains of corn.) I do think it’s neat, though, that they can be trained at all.

 

[Beaglegal]

What a fascinating collection of answers which are both helpful and contradictory!

Thank you all for your replies.

Let's see if I can summarize. The concerns I hear are that (1) live birds might be traumatized because they see what might happen to them someday, (2) live birds might be traumatized because they smell blood, (3) live birds might be traumatized or scattered by flapping wings that suggest an aerial predator, (4) live birds might see the process as an attack on the flock, engendering panic.

Yet three of the replies said they process right in front of the other birds, with no visible trauma, except the one concern about flapping wings possibly signaling the presence of a hawk.

While I agree with the human sentiments of not exposing the birds to the processing, that's about what I would feel, not necessarily what a chicken would feel. I find it hard to believe the chickens would be able to project into the future based on what they are experiencing now, but I don't find it hard to believe that they might decide someone they don't know is a predator. And I suspect the actual experience might trump.

Let me ask, does anyone have experiences of a chicken visibly being traumatized by seeing another chicken processed? I'm wondering how much of the concerns are reflections of our own feelings, as opposed to those of the birds.

I have a chicken who has taken a dislike to me after I culled 7 of her offspring, however I think it has more to do with the round up then the actual killing. I had to chase a little.

 

[bobbi-j]

I have a chicken who has taken a dislike to me after I culled 7 of her offspring, however I think it has more to do with the round up then the actual killing. I had to chase a little.

That is probably the case.

 

[chrissynemetz]

The only time my flock ever show any reaction at all, is if one of the chickens being processed starts squawking and making a lot of noise or flapping their wings. Otherwise they don't seem to notice.

 

[DoozyWombat]

just plz dont do it in front of them have some respect dang it

Hmm. I appreciate what you are saying, but respect for the animals is actually why I'm asking the question. I would never harvest a sheep in front of another, unless I had no choice--and sheep are notoriously stupid. Yet I think it quite likely they would extrapolate and be traumatized. Cat or dog? No way, because I am certain they would transform me correctly into a threat.

But do chickens care? That's really the question, and it's very easy to anthropomorphize. I'm completely ignorant of what chickens would do, and there has been excellent feedback on this, and interesting discussion from both sides.