Question for the Chicken Psychiatrists out there:

[ChooksChick]

Quote:
Sorry- I should have posted the link to the empathy study before!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/...le-of-feeling-empathy-scientists-believe.html

I think it's ridiculous for anyone to judge another for what they believe about whether another animal feels. It's not for anyone to judge because we can't know...and to put someone down for thinking chickens feel is really judgmental and rude.

I think if you observe long enough, you'll find that they are caring for one another. That's just my belief...and a lot of hours of interaction have led to the conclusion. It's important to have respect, both for one another and other creatures.

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
I have an african grey.. he makes up his own jokes.. and laughs at them.. and always has a comment to add to any conversation (and he knows what is being said. the proof being his comments fit perfectly with the conversations). When my husband was in Iraq.. the parrot would ask "where's daddy?".. when my husband came home the bird was a very happy camper.. he would go through all the sounds my husband would make back and forth with him (their whistles, the Gir laugh from invader zim and a few others).. and when my husband would leave the room the bird would call out for him and tell him he loved him and to "come here" so he could talk to him
I have also trained chickens.. even though they can't talk like a parrot.. they do have the capacity for picking colors, shapes and understanding basic commands (there are even youtube videos on the subject). So even though my chickens are here as livestock.. they are by no means "dumb animals".. in my opinion.. most people consider them to be dumb because they haven't taken the time to train one to see how well they can respond.. i only consider chickens to be "uneducated" and not "dumb".. just because they haven't been trained to do tricks doesn't make them stupid

 

[so lucky]

Excellent point
I have wanted an African Grey for years, but I don't think I have it in me to train one properly. Or the commitment needed for a creature that lives as long as parrots do. So I'll just admire them on You-tube! I will look at my chickens with the idea that they are just uneducated for now. All they need to do is be cute, make fertilizer and lay eggs.

 

[ThinkingChickens]

I'm not sure if chickens are highly intelligent. However, when I call my chicken Ethel from whatever she is doing she comes to me or looks right at me. The other girls don't turn to look at me. Also, this is when I don't have food. Plus, Ethel comes out of her pen, past our dogs and braves the porch steps, alone, to come get a scratch from me. She's just 25 weeks and she separates herself from her flock to do this, again for no treats. That's pretty neat to me, regardless of what it means in the grand scheme of things.

 

[For The Love of Peeps]

ChooksChick...Thanks for the link.

 

[Rodster]

Hi all. Im a total chicken newb here and after days of reading about chickens i happend along this post as i had many intellectual questions regarding this type of stuff my self. First off, i live in tampa bay and have had my first flock of 4 birds for 2 whole days now. i had no information from the lady dropping them off other then that the 3 hens were from a production farm. i have since decided they are dark orphingtons, sized small, medium and large. I also got a dark cochin roo who is about as big as the smallest hen and has a lot of trouble walking. yea, i clipped his spurs the wrong way and drew a bit of blood but he seems to have forgivin me and i am amazed at how gentile and docile these birds are. i already know the roo is god ugly, tiny and walks funny, can't grab hold of a finger or branch correctly but i have already fallen for him. i think he WANTS to be friends with me, but then, i've only had him 2 days. how could i possibly know what he thinks? well, i have had pets my entire life. i KNOW when they are happy, when they are sad, jealous, and to think that someone thinks that just because a creature was named a "chicken" it makes them instantly stupid or food. BUT, i also see that guys point of view as well. i started this venture out of hunger and survival. my ancestors grew chickens on a farm. My great uncle was a grange and 4h member in 1917 and i have all his records from his days on the farm and early college. at one time we owned hundreds of acres of a mountain in wilton NH, sadly lost soon after my Uncle was kia in WWII.
With the economy and my personal financial shambles i figured growing chickens would provide fresh eggs, a place to get rid of my garbage and peelings, and when i got enough of a flock going, a chicken dinner each sunday as well as a few to sell, ect. after planting that seed i continued reading and tried to get a handle on how farmers can grow a chicken, feed it, eat it's eggs, then kill it and eat it when the nest or cupboard got bare. i then went to see a few butchering videos on youtube to make sure i knew what i was getting myself into. i already knew i was probably doomed to raising chicks that would most likely not be eaten, but yet, i also figure that i really love meat, including chicken. to think how many i have eaten that i never had to see their eyes or know what hell their lives were and then... (munch munch munch... needs more salt, BURP...) 4 generations ago my great grandmother was an indian chief in canada and they did not have super markets. they had to grow their food, and then make the same choices i will need to make. eat the bird or become a vegetarian. SO, this post really didn't help my dilemma but i saw an oppertunity to bring my inner feelings to the surface and see how others deal with it. i KNOW these animals are smart (relatively, for petes sake, not mini einsteins...), self aware, have feelings and act on emotions. there can be no doubt of this wheather i wanted to eat them or not. my problem now is, how can i decide if i will ever eat my own animals? yea, it might be a lot easer to not name them, think of them as stupid and feed them until it's convieniant to make them dinner but i still have no idea how i will accomplish this. i feel i owe every chicken or animal i have ever eaten the responsibility of actually growing and eating at least one, as without a grocer or family, what other choice would i have? so yea, this is a thread that really opinion has no place, it's just pure fact that animals feel, hurt and bleed just as we do. i may joke about liking my hamburg so rare i could bite into a cow walking by, but the truth is... i really wouldn't. without a family to help me or a supermarket i would probably be a very skinny dude as i think i would have as much luck trying to eat my cat. Thanks to all for sharing and listening. and yes a chair in the coop was added the first day.

 

[so lucky]

Rodster,

I guess the way people face the "to eat or to befriend me" issue is to raise some chickens for eggs and entertainment, then in a separate pen raise some meaties and purposely not get too cozy with them. Meaties grow and are ready for butcher so fast, I think I could do that. Then, if you need to, have someone else butcher and dress them out for you, in exchange for some of the birds.
By the way, you are probably finding that your production farm girls aren't accustomed to grazing, so you may have to help them learn. Do they have their beaks clipped back? I hope you have good luck, but if you don't, just read and learn some more, and try again, maybe purchasing from a different source. This thread is excellent for learning just about everything you need to know about keeping chickens. I love it.

 

[Niss]

Wow, did this get a little off topic, huh?

So, if I understode correctly: Holding and petting a hen is going to lower her position IF it has any effect on the pecking order at all?

I don't have my order figured out, but one of the bossiest hens at feeding time is the one that follows us around, Heven forbid I try to touch her though

 

[so lucky]

You know, a lot of people who have more chicken experience than I do, say one of the ways to take a mean roo down a peg or two is to pick him up, pet him, and carry him around with you, and make sure the other chickens see it. If that works, it would make sense that normal-positioned chickens and bottom-of-the-pecking-order chickens would get that effect, too. They would be taken down a peg or two..? If they were already on the bottom, that would be bad news. Hmmmm. I think I got it now.

 

[sred98]

My top hen is a dark Cornish. She's the boss. She's pretty much equal to my head roo (an EE) and will break up fights, gets first choice at food, etc. I had her with another chicken in the city, before I moved to the country. She was almost a year old, and had lost her friend several months before to a hawk. I had no idea how she would function as a "real chicken".

She has certain chickens she likes to hang out with, and knows her name, and certain phrases like, "stay" "treat" "come here" " get down" "no" and others. She likes to sit with me in the shade, she figured out the doggie door the first week we were here!

I had surgery about 6 months ago. I was bedridden for a week. After a few days, she forced her way inside the house and stayed outside my bedroom door until my husband opened it and ran past him and jumped up on the bed and laid on my chest. He went to grab her and she growled and pecked at him. She got to stay for a while and then she got up and went back outside. There was no reason for her to do that, except that she missed my company. There were no treats involved, and she knows my husband always throws her out of the house. It was no different than a dog waiting outside the door!

As far as the rooster issue, I have my head rooster. He's been the head roo since he fought his way up the ranks and he's the best rooster I've ever seen! He's gentle with his girls, always finds the best treats for them, and keeps a good watch out for predators. I haven't had him since he was a baby, he was about 6 months old. He has always been friendly, but when he was trying to establish dominance, he didn't want me to pet him or pick him up in front of the other chickens! He got to where he would go behind the barn or somewhere away from the other chickens, and start calling me over for treats. I'd pick him up and rub his wattles and head, but he'd fuss and freak out when another chicken would come around. Now that he's head roo (and has been for 2 years!) he doesn't seem to care. He'll come over and hop up in my lap or stand at my feet til I pick him up. There are 3 other roosters here, and they will try and challenge him, but they always run away. I was hoping one of them would end up being a good backup, but so far, none of them are looking good.

I have about 15 chickens right now, and most of them know their names. At night, when I go in to check everyone and lock up the barn, I call them all by name. The ones that know their names, stretch their necks out and look down at me. They come when I call them. My dog is named Ruby and I have a RIR hen (thought she was a roo) named Rudy. They both know the difference when call their names, even when they're standing right next to each other.



If other birds show affection and have feelings, why can't chickens??