What are some of the most mind-blowing facts about chickens that few people actually know??

[Bonnieboo]

The only thing that seems crazy to me is their relation to T-Rex.

I mean, if a chicken is well fed and relaxed it doesn't make a lot of sense, poor innocent little birdies suffering from false allegations. Cute little sweeties.

Then one day I went out to the juvenile pen with my lawn chair and some leftover Lees fried chicken (why don't they have the chain more places, it's the very best).
"Look little ones, it's pork!" I fibbed to them.
I started to pick apart the... pork... when suddenly I was mobbed. Tearing and flinging bits of flesh as fast as I could to keep them off of me. Soon a vortex started, a ring-around-the-rosie with me in my chair at the center. 15 carnivores ran past, vacuumed up every speck of flesh I could fling at them, and began to eye my fingers with eyes of darkness as they whipped past me, round and round.
A scene from Jurassic Park with the raptor trainer flashed in my mind. That's when I knew... once the bucket ran out, I was next on the menu. I had to get out of that chair. So I flung what remained of the flesh into the air and leaped away as fast as I could.
Later, I saw them out there sitting in my lawn chair. Eyeing me.
Now I know. I know what they really are.

So totally love it

 

[BDutch]

I didn’t say the hen could do any of those things. In birds it is the hen that determines the sex of the embryo rather than the male, that’s all I said.

Sorry. Must have been a language mistake on the meaning of the word determine.

 

[igorsMistress]

Sorry. Must have been a language mistake on the meaning of the word determine.

Perhaps it’s a misunderstanding on your part, I didn’t make a mistake.

 

[featherhead007]

I find most non-chicken people are unaware that chickens are individuals with their own character and preferences. Dare I say personality?

Even the little roosters have a personality. Some are very loving too:

 

[BDutch]

Perhaps it’s a misunderstanding on your part, I didn’t make a mistake.

Yes it must have been my mistake. Im not a native English speaker and make more mistakes with the language as I want to. In case of doubt (like this time) I googled for a translation. But unfortunately Google translate made the same mistake as I did.
Sometimes translate gives wrong or strange answers . There is also a possibility words have a different meaning in different areas or a different context as well.

 

[BDutch]

Pok pok": Japanese researchers claim to be able to translate chicken language thanks to artificial intelligence.
Source of this article (published in 2023)

Japanese researchers claim that they have found a way to better understand chickens. By analyzing the sound of a chicken via artificial intelligence, they can find out how the chicken in question is feeling at that moment. Although the research should be taken with a grain of salt.

Chickens often cluck, cluck and cluck a lot. They do this to communicate or to express their emotions. It is said that chickens can even make up to 30 different sounds.

Researchers from the University of Tokyo now claim that they can translate those chicken sounds into emotions. To do this, they have designed a computer program that analyzes the sounds of chickens via artificial intelligence and can link them to six emotional states: hunger, fear, anger, contentment, excitement and stress.

The system appears to be correct in 80 percent of the cases. At least that is what the researchers claim. The study still needs to be reviewed by other scientists before it can be approved and published in a scientific journal.

If we know how animals feel, we can make a better world for them
Adrian David Cheok, engineer and professor at the i-University of Tokyo
The researchers themselves are enthusiastic. "It's a huge leap for science and this is just the beginning," says Professor Adrian David Cheok, who has also done research on sex robots.

 

[BDutch]

Killing day-old male chicks has been common practice all over the world. The male chicks are often used as food for zoos and professional bird lovers.

There are 2 techniques available now to determine the sex in eggs for hatcheries.
This means that killing day-old male chicks is no longer necessary. France and Germany banned the killing of day-old male chicks for this reason.

Article source (translated with google)

According to general manager Chiel ter Heerdt, killing male chicks undermines the social support for the sector. 'If we know the gender at an early stage, we do not have to hatch and kill the male chicks. Only hatching eggs with a hen go back into the incubator. The eggs with the male chicks are processed into animal feed. In this way, we also close the cycle', he reports on the Ter Heerdt website in an explanation of the decision.

The techniques differ slightly from each other and are suitable for different chicken breeds or egg colours. In the Seleggt technique, a tiny hole is lasered into a hatching egg. A drop of liquid comes out of that hole. This drop is used to determine whether there is a hen or a cock in the egg. The technique has been tested several times in a test setup at the Ter Heerdt hatchery. The technique can be used for brown and white chickens. Ter Heerdt has been offering the technique since this month.

With the AAT technique, the sex is determined after the thirteenth day of the incubation process. This is done with light. The accuracy of the sex determination with this technique is 98 percent. The technique is only suitable for brown chickens. Ter Heerdt has been offering this technique since July 2020.

 

[Shadrach]

Yes + they have two eyelids on each eye. One normal like ours and underneath one to see through like a curtain. It to protect their eyes, e.g. while they are dust-bathing.

Three eyelids.

 

[BDutch]

Three eyelids.

Never too old to learn!
Wondered why this would make sense. The internet says:
Believe it or not, chickens actually have a third eyelid, on each eye. The third eyelid, also called the nictitating membrane, runs horizontally across the eye, helping to clean, moisten, and further protect the eye from dirt.

 

[Swivelhip]

Chicken eggs can go unrefrigerated for weeks.