- Mar 19, 2009
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[/QUOTE]Chickens are so very much smarter than most people give them credit for. My dad's chickens knew he always carried the chicken feed in the metal bucket and never bothered the yellow plastic bucket with the rabbit food. When I housed a pair of chickens next to rabbits, they quickly learned the rabbit technique of putting their greens in the water to keep them fresh. In the winter when I go out to check on them before I go shopping, they don't call me to feed them like they do when I go out in my barn coat....they go nuts when they see the barn coat.
That's just a few small examples. If you keep your eyes and ears open, you will see all kinds of ways that your chickens are paying attention to you while keeping track of everything else in their world. I think a lot of people are actually training their birds all the time, and just don't realize it. It's important to be aware and be consistent, as any animal trainer would tell you.
ALL animals are a lot smarter than people give them credit for. I got outsmarted by a cow once. She used planning and forethought to get what she wanted and she put one over on me.