New Jersey

[NJchixs]

Can I just say, I'm a literate person, but for some reason trying to go back and fix typing errors has gotten difficult lately. So please everyone excuse the broken English I sometimes type out lol.

 

[mame1616]

found this on the heritage large fowl form
Good Morning,

I wanted to share a small part of an article written by, Karen Davis P.H.D., who is an Avian Specialist.

I believe, if it wasn't for the chickens' ability to lay large number of eggs, they would have been one of the most sought after, and expensive pet animals. In my personal experience, I found them to have much more intelligence than they are given credit for.
I hope you enjoy the article below.

Lual


Capacity for Pain and Suffering
Birds including chickens experience pain and suffering the same as humans and other mammals. Like mammals, chickens and other birds have nociceptors-pain receptors. Behavioral evidence supports neurophysiological evidence of chickens' ability to suffer pain, fear, and other forms of distress. In "Pain in Birds," Michael Gentle writes: "Comparing pain in birds with mammals, it is clear that, with regard to the anatomical, physiological, and behavioral parameters measured, there are no major differences and therefore the ethical considerations normally afforded to mammals should be extended to birds" (Gentle, 1992, 235).
In "Behavioral and Physiological Responses to Pain in the Chicken," Michael Gentle concludes: "The close similarity between birds and mammals in their physiological and behavioural response to painful stimuli argues for a common sensory and emotional experience." Chickens' beaks and skin are full of pain-sensitive nerves. Debeaking and feather-pulling cause pain which has been characterized both behaviorally and physiologically in chickens. To those who ask whether the combs of roosters and hens can feel pain the answer is yes. In comb pinch tests, for example, chickens show "active avoidance behaviour . . . and vigorous escape attempts involving jumping, wing flapping and occasionally calling".

Cognition
Science shows that chickens have complex cognitive (mental) capabilities. In The Development of Brain and Behaviour in the Chickens , avian specialist Lesley J. Rogers says that the chicken has "a complex nervous system designed to form a multitude of memories and to make complex decisions", and that "with increased knowledge of the behaviour and cognitive abilities of the chicken has come the realization that the chicken is not an inferior species to be treated merely as a food source"

Conclusion
Wild and feral chickens raise their families and fend for themselves the same as other birds. Field studies show that domesticated chickens resume a natural state of existence that may be masked but not extinguished by the domestic environment. One example is the feral chickens of Riverbend in North Charleston, South Carolina. These birds left the plantations on which they were originally placed to live independently in the surrounding woods. White leghorn hens rescued from battery cages instinctually roost in the branches of trees and bushes, like their wild relatives and ancestors. It is increasingly recognized that chickens are hardy, social, and intelligent birds and that "birds have cognitive capacities equivalent to those of mammals, even primates"

That is excellent! I may print that out to give at future chicken talks!

I read an article some time ago from one of the rescuers of battery hens in Britain - where they have an extensivem and established rescue set-up - that one of the very fist things the birds do upon being let out onto grass for the first time is take a dirt bath and sunbathe, even though they'd never been in the sun or on dirt. The baby chicks do that, too, even when there's no mom to teach them how. Amazing.

 

[llandry]

I feel so naive or maybe its because of the field I'm in but I had no idea that people thought otherwise regarding the pain, suffering, and cognitive abilities of chickens/birds described in the article. People think they don't experience pain and fear???? Did I misread it!

 

[ben is a terror]

As a vet who I no longer use said to me. Why are you here? It's just a chicken.

I don't think mine are spoiled enough. I just got back from tucking them in.

 

[ChknObsessedANG]

OMGoodness....when did I acquire 29 chickens and have 16 more waiting to hatch?!?! They just multiplied when I wasn't looking, I think! LOL

 

[ben is a terror]

it's called chicken math

 

[NJchixs]

As a vet who I no longer use said to me. Why are you here? It's just a chicken. I don't think mine are spoiled enough. I just got back from tucking them in.

 

I tuck mine in every night.

 

[ben is a terror]

do you sing to them too?

 

[itsbadlands]

It's 11:30 p.m. and pouring rain. I walked out to my shed which is next to my coop and 2 of my chickens were out of the coop,perched on top of it just now(at night) in the pouring rain.No clue why and they've never done it before to my knowledge... Anyone ever have chickens decide to go out for a night in the rain before?I'm wondering if they just felt like it was a good night for a shower?LOL
They have food and water and no signs of predator etc. I locked up the girls now.Guess I gotta start doing that again at night.

 

[shadow rabbit10]

Don't know... I always lock mine up at night.