What did you do with your flock today?

[BDutch]

I know Pru only has half a brain cell (she shares the other half with her equally daft son) but I credited Posie with more intelligence.

I often wondered about the intelligence of my individual chickens too. For many years I had one pyle Dutch who never seemed to understand how fences work.
She always wanted to go through it , if she saw another chicken free ranging on the other side of the fence.

One early morning we got a fox in the run. I knew the run was not very safe therefore I installed an auto pop door between the coop and the run. This pyle Dutch was the one who volunteered to go through the auto pop door first. The others sounded the alarm and stayed inside until MDH and I rushed down to open the run door and scare away the fox.

 

[Shetland lover]

I often wondered about the intelligence of my individual chickens too. For many years I had one pyle Dutch who never seemed to understand how fences work.
She always wanted to go through it , if she saw another chicken free ranging on the other side of the fence.

One early morning we got a fox in the run. I knew the run was not very safe therefore I installed an auto pop door between the coop and the run. This pyle Dutch was the one who volunteered to go through the auto pop door first. The others sounded the alarm and stayed inside until MDH and I rushed down to open the run door and scare away the fox.

Your girl had obviously been in secret training for that moment her entire life

I only have 7 chickens atm, a standard sized Shetland hen (approaching 7yrs old - still laying every other day and still thinks she's a spring chicken), 5 bantam Cochin (2 hens, 2 roos and a 13wk old pullet) and the frizzle Pilkie. I spend a lot of time with them so I've been able to adduce their relative levels of intelligence.
Ferdy, my oldest roo (and father of Stanley, the one that shares half a brain cell with Pru), is super bright. He knows to come find me if there's a problem, he recognises himself in a mirror, he knows everyone else's name - if i ask him to bring Pootle to me, for example, that's exactly who he'll return with. Ferdy is a problem solver, he's worked out he can open the kitchen door if he jumps onto the handle and uses his weight to push it down. He's also learned to open the sliding door on his coop - though I have no idea how he does it! He's also house trained. The only other chicken I've had approaching his level of intelligence was Connie, my first ex-battery hen. She was top of the pecking order. She learned to climb our very steep staircase in 3 days - I'd often find her on the bed with the cats, quickly mastered several voice commands and was also house trained - in fact, she taught Ferdy!

Like I said, Pru is my adorable idiot. She once got stuck under the kitchen door when she tried to limbo under the 2inch gap. She also panics at the smallest thing and regularly behaves like the sky's falling in. But, she's the best broody you could hope for. Dedicated, will defend her eggs/chicks to the hilt and yet she has never been mean. I can lift her off the nest, remove eggs etc and she doesn't even murmer at me. Of the chicks she has raised, she has allowed me to co-parent them all. We have made a great team.

Clara, Pru's sister and biological mother to Ferdy, has never been broody in her life, can be mean-spirited and is Machiavellian in character. She has a rubbish poker face - you can literally see her calculating every move.

Gladys, my Shetland hen, is pretty intelligent too. She is also good at working her way round problems, has taught a couple of the others how to pin down rodents with her foot and then disembowel them, after snapping their necks. She also learned how to smash open snail sĥells on paving from another of my ex-batts and has passed this skill on. She is also proficient at fishing things she wants out of water, be it pond snails, aquatic plants or even actual fish!

I've only had Pootle and Posie a month so I'm still assessing them, though it seems Pootle is the brighter of the two so far.

And Stanley? Well, he tries, bless him, but he really is just a pretty face.

 

[kattabelly]

And Stanley? Well, he tries, bless him, but he really is just a pretty face.

I have two barnyard mix cockerels like this too, pretty sure they also have a brain cell on time share

My Shetlands are still babies but other people I know who keep them all say the same - that they're generally fairly clever, self-reliant and good at working things out. I was thinking of putting a small pond in the space they'll be moving to once I've got it fixed up, so interesting to read that yours like to go fishing.

 

[BDutch]

@Perris , read this. ^^
These Shetland chickens seem to be a perfect match for you if you want potty trained chickens with more brains.

 

[Luv Ducks]

@Perris , read this. ^^
These Shetland chickens seem to be a perfect match for you if you want potty trained chickens with more brains.

I am amazed that you can potty train them. I have only had ducks and never had any that I could do that with. Hubby used to have to load chickens onto trucks as a teenager and he has a lot of bad memories so I am only allowed ducks, never chickens. I have managed to get 26 of them though so I really won't complain, lol.

 

[BDutch]

I am amazed that you can potty train them. I have only had ducks and never had any that I could do that with. Hubby used to have to load chickens onto trucks as a teenager and he has a lot of bad memories so I am only allowed ducks, never chickens. I have managed to get 26 of them though so I really won't complain, lol.

If your husband only has a bad feeling with the commercial hybrids you could try something completely different?. Buy a few bizar looking chickens and don’t tell your husband these are chickens

These are not chickens: they have 5 toes, a black skin and sleep in nestboxes.

 

[Shetland lover]

I have two barnyard mix cockerels like this too, pretty sure they also have a brain cell on time share

My Shetlands are still babies but other people I know who keep them all say the same - that they're generally fairly clever, self-reliant and good at working things out. I was thinking of putting a small pond in the space they'll be moving to once I've got it fixed up, so interesting to read that yours like to go fishing.

From my experience, I'd add calm and very gentle to that mix. Gladys is current head honcho in my small, rather mixed flock. She has never been mean to the bantams, like I've heard other standard sized hens can be. She rules with a velvet glove rather than an iron fist. The only time she really stamps her authority is if she feels the boys are overstepping - then she will warn them and if they don't take heed she will 'fight' like a roo. They know she's serious then and behave themselves. Best bit is no one gets hurt, unlike two roos fighting.
I've also found Shetlands will eat the most unexpected plants. You'd think stuff like juniper, holly, mahonia would be spikey enough to put them off. Nope, not a bit of it! NOTHING is safe from those beaks I found her hidden in our Christmas tree one year, snacking on the needles.
They are definitely self-reliant. None of my Shetlands have been lap chickens and really don't like being picked up. That's not to say they're not friendly. They are. They just express it differently to my bantam Cochin (Pekins). I found they like to follow you around the garden, getting into everything you're doing. Gladys also pulls my clothes when she wants my attention and is happy to sit with me all day, just not on my lap!
One word of caution over installing a pond. Gladys' sister, Alice, had a very large tapit, which covered her eyes. I had to trim the feathers away from her eyes regularly as she was forever tripping up and falling face first into our water feature. In hindsight, she could easily have drowned. I'm definitely not saying don't put a pond in - just make sure your bird's vision isn't obscured.

 

[Shetland lover]

@Perris , read this. ^^
These Shetland chickens seem to be a perfect match for you if you want potty trained chickens with more brains.

Shetlands are a fabulous breed. Although technically, they are a 'landrace', not a breed. I really can't recommend them enough.
I've got to point out it's my Pekin, Ferdy, who's house trained and Connie, who helped train him, was an ex-battery hybrid hen. Shetlands ARE a little more intelligent than your average chicken in my experience, though.

 

[Shetland lover]

I am amazed that you can potty train them. I have only had ducks and never had any that I could do that with. Hubby used to have to load chickens onto trucks as a teenager and he has a lot of bad memories so I am only allowed ducks, never chickens. I have managed to get 26 of them though so I really won't complain, lol.

Ooh! I'd love ducks but my hubby is the opposite! I can have a few chickens but not ducks as there's insufficient space for them. Unfortunately, he's right - or there'd be a few Khaki Campbells, Indian Runners and Shetland ducks running around!

Got to say on the house training, I've only had two chickens that were house trained. Connie more or less trained herself and, I think, trained Ferdy more than I did
I have seen numerous house trained chickens on YouTube so it can be done. Chickens aren't supposed to have very good bowel control, so be warned!

 

[Shetland lover]

If your husband only has a bad feeling with the commercial hybrids you could try something completely different?. Buy a few bizar looking chickens and don’t tell your husband these are chickens

These are not chickens: they have 5 toes, a black skin and sleep in nestboxes.
View attachment 4187140

Add to this, ALL my birds choose to sleep in nest boxes!