Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[BDutch]

Evidently wild birds may be rejoicing sometimes when they sing, so why not chickens? https://www.wpr.org/animals/why-do-songbirds-sing-because-it-feels-good-researchers-say

Like humans who love to sing in the shower.

 

[fluffycrow]

Interesting! I wonder if there's a shared, neutral space for crowing, or perhaps an established culture that crowing is for the common good.

I've seen crowing weaponized. It's how Merle instigates arguments when his brother Andre's trying to ignore him. They'll do this over and over: Andre starts to walk away only to rumble back as soon as Merle opens his beak.

Incredible clip, very funny too. My favourite moment was when another rooster crowed (Stilton, I assume) Andre didn’t even look back to check if the crow came from Merle.
I think we all know that the chickens can tell between calls, and who makes them, but it’s very nice seeing it in video, something most don’t get to experience often. It shows a level of intelligence that most do not think is possible for a chicken.

Crows here happen a lot.
The LFs have three main crowing periods, maybe three.
One is around 5am, when the first light shines through.
Second round is when they are let out, so usually three hours later.
Third round is anywhere from 3-5pm.
I can think of very reasonable explanations as to why those are the major crowing periods here, which again seem to suggest the flexibility and multiple uses of the crow.
Then of course there are the age variations, which are a whole other can of worms.

Interestingly, all the bantam males here were constant crowers. They all came from the same line, so that’s something to keep in mind, but they never grew out of their constant crowing phase. I interpret this as insecurity; a constant need to reinforce territory would suggest unwillingness to protect said territory physically (though they did, if it came down to that)

 

[Labsandchickens8]

I have also come down with something, in the first week of classes too

I've read (been reading a lot since I can't do much else) that the best way to help your body fight it is to rest, decrease stress, and stay hydrated. Stuff like vitamin C and probiotics help you build a healthy immune system, but it seems like once symptoms manifest then those don't do any good. Also OTC drugs that manage symptoms make you more comfortable but can be counterproductive, since mucus production, fever and cough are all ways that the body fights the infection, so eliminating those symptoms can lengthen the infection. I think I read somewhere that running a fever shortens the infection time significantly, so hopefully waking up at 103F this morning will have helped

Netty pots are pretty great (I wish I could stand the sensation) for the same reason that eating spicy food or taking a hot shower helps; it's basically helping your body flush the the sinuses, which it's already trying to do with mucus

I'm sorry you've been sick also! Are you getting better?
My fever finally broke yesterday. I took care of chickens but couldn't do anything else, like hanging out with them.

 

[Labsandchickens8]

Two hours today. It spat a couple of times but not enough to make anyone wet.
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They saw something but I don't know what.

I turned over another plank today. Lots of slaters and bugs.
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The people who took on this plot dug a small corner of their plot, planted a few things and then gave up. Mow and Sylph are cleaning up.
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Old coop sorted.
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Looking at that old coop, it's shocking to remember how many chickens were crammed into it at the beginning.

 

[Vulpes vulpes]

It shows a level of intelligence that most do not think is possible for a chicken.

I just read about an experiment that modified the mirror test so that it worked better within chickens' natural behaviors. Instead of smearing a mark on the animal's mirror image (as is the norm) they placed a rooster in an enclosure with a mirror, then simulated an aerial predator flying over. When roosters are alone, they are unlikely to make an alarm call. They tend to only alert if there's a conspecific nearby, be it male or female. When the rooster saw the threat, it did not alert, demonstrating that it recognized that its reflection was not another rooster. The experiment sought to demonstrate that the mirror test produces a lot of false negatives, which might be mitigated if we tailor the test to a species' natural social behaviors.

There was also an experiment that showed that domestic chickens will not only react to the alarm calls of other birds, but the response varies based on the urgency of the call. It's becoming impossible to justify the notion that chickens are dull or unintelligent.

 

[Vulpes vulpes]

I'm sorry you've been sick also! Are you getting better?
My fever finally broke yesterday. I took care of chickens but couldn't do anything else, like hanging out with them.

I'm mostly better now! I felt sick for only about 48 hours, and had a high fever for probably half/three quarters of that. I still have some lingering congestion, but the fever and fatigue have gone away and I've been able to attend classes and such

 

[Skyeknight]

I just read about an experiment that modified the mirror test so that it worked better within chickens' natural behaviors. Instead of smearing a mark on the animal's mirror image (as is the norm) they placed a rooster in an enclosure with a mirror, then simulated an aerial predator flying over. When roosters are alone, they are unlikely to make an alarm call. They tend to only alert if there's a conspecific nearby, be it male or female. When the rooster saw the threat, it did not alert, demonstrating that it recognized that its reflection was not another rooster. The experiment sought to demonstrate that the mirror test produces a lot of false negatives, which might be mitigated if we tailor the test to a species' natural social behaviors.

There was also an experiment that showed that domestic chickens will not only react to the alarm calls of other birds, but the response varies based on the urgency of the call. It's becoming impossible to justify the notion that chickens are dull or unintelligent.

Love this way of going about the mirror test. A source would be incredibly helpful!

 

[Vulpes vulpes]

Love this way of going about the mirror test. A source would be incredibly helpful!

Here it is!
Full Text

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Here it is!
Full Text

Such a sad notice at the top of the webpage…

But fascinating article! A classmate in my senior seminar presented on mirror self-recognition in fish, where they would try to clean off a seen-in-mirror smudge on their own bodies, but not when viewing a photo of another fish.

Chickens may act in ways that seem stupid to us, but they’re not stupid, and they certainly know a lot more about being chickens than we’ll ever know.