odd number of eggs to hatch??

[tobit]

but how does the number of times the eggs are turned relate to the number of eggs present? yes i agree counting is definitely not their forte

 

[tobit]

the thing about balancing the number of eggs per side seems logical...

 

[sunflour]

Chickens can count so I don't think it matters.

Not joking, chickens can truly count. There are numerous behavioral studies that have proven it.

Here's just one: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7975260.stm



They also can recognize 300 or more flock members + humans on sight.

They are not dumb bird brains. That's they are so fascinating. I have met many humans who cannot do arithmetic without a calculator!

 

[tobit]

Recognition and counting is different, anyway they don't seem to notice a different number of eggs in the nest wen is swap fertile ones for false eggs...

 

[sunflour]

Recognition and counting is different, anyway they don't seem to notice a different number of eggs in the nest wen is swap fertile ones for false eggs...

OK, last post on this issue, I promise. But, counting numbers is a human assignment of a symbol to spacial recognition of items. Children learn to count first by objects and then to associate the numbers to those objects.

According to Raising Chickens for Dummies By Kimberly Willis & Rob Ludlow, page 32 - "Birds, including chickens, understand the concept of counting, and can be trained to count objects"

And not by just responding to a trainers signal like horses or dogs who don't have this cognitive skill, chickens really can learn tricks that demonstrate the ability to count and to remember. My father used to train them to do amazing things.

Another info source: http://freefromharm.org/chicken-behavior-an-overview-of-recent-science/

Believe what you want.

 

[tobit]

I'm just saying that mine don't care about the number of eggs, i can add or take without them being upset about having less or more...