Most Intelligent Breed of Chicken

[bluema]

Same here.. My light brahma is so cute but she definitely doesn't care about being handled. She seems to care only about the food she can forage. I try so hard with her but she just wants to escape whenever I try to pick her up. She seems pretty slow to me so far, but I hope she comes around soon. The most intelligent I have is Black Australorp, but the Plymouth Rock is pretty close.

 

[gruffy]

Our ancona hen is very smart (as I would like to believe haha) she knows how to get our attention. She was the first to jump up on our bush and stare right in the kitchen window and she knows if you see her you will feed her haha and she will go to every window and look in until she finds you. She will make eye contact until you're uncomfortable enough to throw something out. If you forget a feeding she will start crowing at the kitchen window. Not very good at it but as long as it gets attention. She has a range of calls that all mean different things so we know what she wants... we have been trained by the hen haha. She will also pretend to be a rooster to keep the rooster from mating with her. She's very resourceful as well if she sees you taking her eggs she will find a nest spot somewhere you never knew one existed. Last time she found a wedge between 2bags of leaves and snuck under the nest houses and found a little nook behind everyone else's box. Oh and she will get out of the rain haha. All of her babies are super escape artists and they know how to get out of the rain as well. Our blue wyanndotte just sits in the yard all wet ignoring all houses and shelters we have out there... really totally dumb as a rock haha

 

[bluema]

I'm going to have to look into ancona breed next. : )
The light brahma, after two years, remained pretty dumb - very disappointing. She's a big slow unintelligent bird, but great at foraging. My other birds constantly snatch worms and food out of her beak, so she often loses her finds. In my flock, the most intelligent one turned out to be a Silky - matured much slower but got pretty affectionate with better memory and disposition than other standards.

 

[WindyHillFarm]

If I had to pick just one, I think I'd say Barred Rock! Our old hen Clucky knew her name and would ask for attention. Have found BOs to be very smart too!

 

[gruffy]

I've had a few hand raised easter eggers that gave hugs. They would jump in my lap and lean over my shoulder and snuggle in my hair. Haven't seen many other birds do that. They were really sweet birds not sure if that counts as intelligent but it was really nice my rooster is intelligent in that he just doesn't care haha. When we catch him he'll just start fluffing up and start sunning himself in my lap and just wait patiently until we let him go. He knows he has to be nice but he doesn't have to enjoy it lol. He flaps his wings to say hi whenever we go outside and walks around grumbling and growling so we know we're on his turf and his hens are not to be messed with haha. my Ancona barnevelder mixes are starting to give hugs but still too early to tell if they'd still be nice when they get older. But there's a few that take after dad and don't enjoy being held but just patiently wait to be put down haha all the others absolutely love being held and swarm me when I go out but there's always one or 2 in the bunch that are just passive and I assume mildly cynical haha they just endure being held lol

 

[HeritageGoose13]

I don't really like when people try to compare one animal's intelligence to another. For instance in the dog world these three dogs are considered smartest because they will learn and perform the most tricks over and over: Border Collie, German Shepherd, Standard Poodle. Meanwhile the independent chow chow is considered "dull" because he won't fetch a ball twenty times in a row. If it were up to me, I'd consider the chow smarter than the rest of them because he is smart enough to realize there is no point in bringing a ball to his master if the ball is just going to get thrown again. He may love his master just as much as the other dogs do theirs, but he sees how illogical it is so he stops. Why should he waste his time doing something so pointless? The other dogs don't think for themselves; if their master says "Fetch!" they do it without thought.

But that is just me. I think people confuse "trainability" with "intelligence" when really, the most intelligent creatures tend to be the most independent, and therefore the least trainable.

(That said, some chickens have definitely retained more instincts than others. If I had to pick I would say a breed that looked out for predators, foraged well and went broody often would be more intelligent than one that could not do those things.)

 

[gruffy]

Well you can have a bird that simply follows ingrained instinct... but it may not be intelligent enough to think outside the box. And there are always those birds that aren't domesticated. But a chicken that can understand training would be an accomplishment. A new mental leap of understanding. This is mostly why we judge intelligence by training. The interpretation of action to reaction on a comprehensive level is a leap for most pets. You do make a good point though! There are many different types of intelligence. And I agree the next level up is understanding what you want and choosing not to do it. I think the next level afterwards would be to do something intentionally to manipulate and get what you want. Not because you're told to but to use this as a signal to train the trainer. I had a parakeet that knew more tricks than my dog. She knew what I was asking but would only do a trick if she wanted to and she would do them to get my attention or to get something she wanted. She knew all the signals but would do tricks just to ask for things she wanted like being let out in the morning or to ask for something I was eating

 

[SHunterH]

My red sex link that I won't name just because is very cute she smart yo she escapes her cage she is troublesome but I love her

 

[Carol McLaine]

My Barred Rock is smarter than my RIR and my EE. I could give many examples, I am most impressed by her communication. She is beginning to mimic my rhythm and pitch of speech. She has figured out that when I get treats out, I want them to start going into the run. She has decided to snub treats knowing she will get them eventually. I have had to adjust my behavior to conform to what she has figured out.

 

[MargaretAnneHK]

Icelandics.