What is a chickens sense of smell like ?

[Reg]

Dont have any yet so just sort of working out what they can & can not do.

If i buried some grains of sweet corn 2" deep in several places in their run & then let them out the coop, would they go straight over to it & dig it up ?

Reg

 

[Illia]

If they saw you do it, yes. Otherwise they'll scratch around randomly until they find it. I believe chickens can smell, seeing from what I've seen them react to, but I don't think their sense of smell is very good at all. That or they just don't rely much on it.

 

[al6517]

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I agree

 

[Higins00]

I remember reading somewhere they can't smell, that's why they will eat anything. Like plastic and glass

 

[Illia]

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I don't think smell has anything to do with eating anything. Humans, dogs, and cats can smell pretty good and will eat just about anything too

My chickens almost never eat plastic or glass, I think that's a deficiency issue.

 

[kiwi-chookn]

one would think since they are a scavenger/forager that is omnivorous (sp) they would have a very good sense of smell.
i still believe they are little T-rex's, and they were scavengers/opportunistic hunters.

 

[magicpigeon]

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I don't think smell has anything to do with eating anything. Humans, dogs, and cats can smell pretty good and will eat just about anything too

My chickens almost never eat plastic or glass, I think that's a deficiency issue.

Maybe they don't have a sense of taste either. I don't think pigeons have tastebuds

 

[ninjascrub69]

I'm almost positive that chickens dont have a sense of smell. The only birds that i know of, that do (my knowledge is limited, so there are probably more), are turkey vultures, and a species of parrot that lives in new zealand.

 

[sourland]

Everything that I have ever read indicates that chickens and most birds do not have a sense of taste or smell. If you buried the corn, they would go over there and start scratching because they would be attracted by the disturbance of the soil. They are very much visual feeders.

 

[centrarchid]

Chickens can taste and smell. Required to identify items taken into mouth as food or not. Best evidence comes from those with blind birds that can still eat. They simply mouth everything they can find before rejecting or swallowing.