Thinking chickens: a review of cognition, emotion, and behavior in the domestic chicken

[Henrik Petersson]

I'd like to learn more about chickens and magnetic alignment.

Also, there's quite a variance in attitudes toward roosters and a tendency toward a narrow understanding of who they are and their capability of learning humans. We must dominate them completely to alter their behavior to something we can tolerate, according to one popular school of thought.

I understand this thinking, but I've also experienced something deeper than mere dominance that has allowed me to work my rooster Henry. I'd love to learn more about a chicken's capability for emotional intelligence.

And we have observed Henry's ability to recognize members of other species as non-threatening in response to repeat experiences with them. This includes our neighbor, who took delight in Henry's crowing every time he would see her. Much to her disappointment, he no longer does this — and yet he only ever sees her from a good distance.

We have eight cats and four dogs. He doesn't trust our dogs, but he never crows or mad clucks when he sees them; same with our cats. But when Henry sees a cat or dog he doesn't know, he immediately sounds the alarm and mad clucks. With people he's more likely to crow instead.

It's remarkable that a winged creature does this. It's even more remarkable that the dogs always bark whenever our neighbor drives down her driveway or visits, but Henry recognizes her as a friendly now and no longer reacts.

This aspect of chicken intelligence would make for an interesting read.

Interesting story!

There are two distinct ways in which I think chickens seem stupid:

1) Their spatial intelligence is questionable. They often try to walk through the chicken wire. And often they try to do it instead of walking around it when the gate is open.

2) When you give chickens 10 pieces of a tasty treat, one chicken will grab one piece and the rest of the chickens will chase after the chicken with the piece in her mouth, instead of grabbing one of the 9 pieces left lying on the ground.

Other than that, I can't really think of anything unintelligent they do?

 

[Sunshine Flock]

Interesting story!

There are two distinct ways in which I think chickens seem stupid:

1) Their spatial intelligence is questionable. They often try to walk through the chicken wire. And often they try to do it instead of walking around it when the gate is open.

2) When you give chickens 10 pieces of a tasty treat, one chicken will grab one piece and the rest of the chickens will chase after the chicken with the piece in her mouth, instead of grabbing one of the 9 pieces left lying on the ground.

Other than that, I can't really think of anything unintelligent they do?

Yes, so true and curious!

When I let the chickens out to forage, inevitably one will stay in the yard and see the others through the fencing and follow them along the fence line, rather than go through the open gate. They make the saddest sounds when they do this, as if the others were granted a special opportunity the one left behind was denied.

And one hen will pick up a soft downy feather to eat for protein. She'll make a sound they reserve for having discovered something interesting, and the others will swarm and chase after her all over the property — and yet they're all covered in those same downy feathers, and they're all over the chicken run and inside their coop!

I adore these creatures.