Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Iluveggers]

However, without reading your information here over the last 6 months, I would not have known what I was seeing or how to interpret the behavior. So, thank you for educating me (and many others I'm sure) on how chickens interact.

Shadrach has provided much knowledge to so many of us! Your story was fantastic!

Funny face ! You're planting garlic already, what zone are you in ? We plant at the beginning of December !

Zone 5. We have to get it in before the ground freezes which doesn’t usually happen until November but I always play it safe and do it a few weeks earlier. What zone are you?

Ida died yesterday

I am so very sorry. You provided a wonderful life for him. I hope eventually you figure out what is going on with your flock.

IMO its nice my chickens have a choice where to sleep, and one of the advantages of still having the old prefab.

I wish I had a bit more option in my setup, however I have multiple spaces to roost, and i usually find them in 3 different groups inside, so I guess there is somewhat of a choice? Curiously enough, they usually roost in the same groupings, but once in awhile it will be all mixed up. I can tell which chickens are “besties”. My Salmon Faverolles and Sussex always roost together, my FBCM and Blue Cuckoo are a pair, and the OE & Welsummer are together. The other 4 bounce between the pairings, although the Oprington and Ameraucana are usually together in one of the groups, and the Brahma tends to stick with the SF & SS pair…chickens are so interesting! I tried staying out to observe where they decide to roost, but I found it quite stressful as birds were getting knocked down when someone wanted to squeeze in their spots. Now I wait til they are settled to peek in & see their roosting choices (while counting to make sure everyone is safely inside at dark).

 

[Perris]

Especially if you are still planning to rehome some of them ?

I've given up that idea. What I'm reading about acquired and inherited immunity puts a premium on old birds and their offspring, so the erstwhile candidates for culling will be staying and I'll stop buying in hatching eggs; if they don't make it to adulthood, they're not adding to the flock gene pool anyway. I think Phoenix sired Dyffryn and Killay , at least, so some Penedesenca genes should be incorporated already; those two just need to make it to maturity and reproduction!

 

[no fly zone]

This is what I want people to understand. Chickens are extraordinarily intelligent social creatures.

Yup. I believed chickens were just stupid birds prior to owning some. Watching that first batch's behavior daily as they grew from little nuggets to adult chickens quickly changed my mind, especially Skeksis. She is definitely the smartest of all the chickens we have had, albeit that number is only a few dozen.

 

[BDutch]

I’m pleased you’ve been able to observe the behaviour but mostly I’m pleased you’ve written about it.

Reporting you’ve seen it is worth more than any thanks.

There’s a lot going on there. It doesn’t seem like the behaviour of a stupid creature and the further one considers what is happening the more complex and more intelligent the behaviour seems.

This is what I want people to understand. Chickens are extraordinarily intelligent social creatures.

I had an interesting conversation with someone who keeps chickens and has done for many years. This person is what most would describe as an attentive, knowledgeable, caring keeper and we’ve had some discussions about the similarities in the behaviours we’ve observed.

I’ve written about “the last step” a number of times on this forum that humans find almost impossible to take and that is to consider the chicken as an equally intelligent species with a different set of skills. This friend and I usually get to this point in our conversations and to this persons credit, they readily admit they cannot take this final step because the moment they truly acknowledge this, they could no longer keep chickens.

You are right that I find it hard to believe chickens are as intelligent as humans, and other intelligent mammals like pigs and apes. I do believe chickens have characters , a social life, language and deserve a good life. And I hate it that poultry farmers and other chicken keepers treat them as chopsticks and omelettes.

Time for tax.

 

[RoyalChick]

You are right that I find it hard to believe chickens are as intelligent as humans, and other intelligent mammals like pigs and apes. I do believe chickens have characters , a social life, language and deserve a good life. And I hate it that poultry farmers and other chicken keepers treat them as chopsticks and omelettes.

Time for tax.

View attachment 3293064

This is a very philosophical discussion. What do you all mean by intelligence? Not IQ as that was developed to test people.
No question that chickens are more intelligent than humans when it comes to a host of things around plant and insect identification and location, about subtle changes in weather and light, about flock members’ illnesses and a host of other things.
And they are certainly more intelligent about chicken flock social dynamics than we are!
But they don’t hold a candle to (some) people in solving simultaneous equations for example.
I think discussion of differences in intelligence between species is not a helpful frame of reference.
It is clear that chickens are intelligent beings with their own social structure and community, their own individuality, likes and dislikes. Surely that is enough to treat them with the respect they deserve.

 

[no fly zone]

https://www.scienceworld.ca/stories/chickens-can-do-math/

 

[BDutch]

This is a very philosophical discussion. What do you all mean by intelligence? Not IQ as that was developed to test people.
No question that chickens are more intelligent than humans when it comes to a host of things around plant and insect identification and location, about subtle changes in weather and light, about flock members’ illnesses and a host of other things.
And they are certainly more intelligent about chicken flock social dynamics than we are!
But they don’t hold a candle to (some) people in solving simultaneous equations for example.
I think discussion of differences in intelligence between species is not a helpful frame of reference.
It is clear that chickens are intelligent beings with their own social structure and community, their own individuality, likes and dislikes. Surely that is enough to treat them with the respect they deserve.

Good point. Chickes are great foragers, better than we humans are in the 21th century ac. But we don’t need these skills anymore since we have a supermarket around the corner. Humans living in the rainforest without any roads and shops nearby, probably still have the skills to forage effectively.

Penny for my thought:
Different species and even humans with different lifestyles are hard to compare in intelligence. Skills and intelligence are not the same. Skills require much practice. And for complex skills you do need intelligence too (like a dentist). Intelligence has to do with the capacity to remember, to combine and to figure things out.

Chickens learning to play chess if they get yummie food might do the trick to convince me. Not counting to 5. Nor playing the piano with keys that light up. A 3 year old child can do these things too.

Intelligence has to do with understanding complex problems imo. Nobody convinced me that chickens grasp complex problems as good as we do (yet).

More tax:

“The moment before Pearl jumped of the crate.”

 

[pennyJo1960]

Good afternoon X Batt's, still figuring out how to hook the stupid android to new xps 8950 windows 11.
I learned as a child with my Grandma that birds where smart creatures.
Not pets but to have respect for.

 

[Molpet]

they cannot take this final step because the moment they truly acknowledge this, they could no longer keep chickens.

I keep chickens and turkeys for food. If I took that final step I wouldn't have animals either.
I do think they deserve respect . And harvesting them is not an easy thing. But they have a better life than store bought.

 

[Iluveggers]

On intelligence:
My FBCM who was limping I think from catching her foot on some bean vines, is 100% healed! I watch her now, and she is much more careful when scratching in piles (she was super agressive in leaf piles before). I swear she knows that’s how she hurt it and has learned to go slower.

Here she is out today:

And a pic of two of the “besties”:

They are so funny, they hang out next to the run when I come out and sit because they don’t want to miss out on any treats.