What's The "Smartest" Thing You've Seen a Chicken Do?

[Redcatcher]

And what are their breeds, ages and genders? This has to be something that you've seen one of your own chickens do, not something you've seen on YouTube or whatever.

This would have to be my six month old Madagascar games (pullet and cockerel). They have deductive reasoning capabilities that rival a cat or dog. Mine can distinguish 18 different shapes for a reward. They can also count or keep track of numbers up to 10.

 

[Pinkaboo]

Here is a video that demonstrates some chicken smarts. The video doesn't really involve outsmarting a child, but the chicken behavior shown speaks for itself.

That's lovely such a pretty chicken too

 

[stormylady]

My chickens held a egg laying 101 class a couple of years ago when my first chicken Peaches laid her first egg. Not sure if its considered smart but I though it was funny, one day we were out side and all of the chickens were in there yard and I turned around and everyone was gone so I went and checked in the coop and all of the girls were lined up in a simi circle around peaches , she was laying her first egg and you could have heard a pin drop just little peeps here and there and honeycomb my roo at the time was standing over her with his wings spread out so you couldn't see peached and all the little girls were trying to peak under and over his wings trying to watch her but nobody moved any closer. I didn't know that they did that It was soooo funny to watch.

 

[kstaven]

Smartest thing I have ever seen a chicken do is run when they see an axe!

 

[pinkchick]

The smartest thing my 2 year old rooster ever did was stop dead in his tracks before making contact once when he tried to attack me.

 

[PamD]

When we go to shut the Coop up at night, if all the girls are not inside, the Rooster, who perches nearest to the door will tell us. It is the only time he makes that particular noise and he is always right!

 

[Vtchicks]

My 7 week old EE hen is so smart she can sound just like a rooster....Oh wait

 

[aoxa]

I can get the more social of my girls to jump in the air for treats.

Only two actually know their name

I find it hilarious that they can tell which cats are new and which cats are old. They let my big orange cat sleep in their nesting box, but go on full alert when my kitten sneaks outside.

 

[Rekon]

Love this thread! A couple smart hen stories:

When I was first training my hens to free range, then return to their coop, I used mealworms as the 'coming home' treat. Copper, our biggest hen (a Black Copper Marans/Welsummer cross), loves all treats almost desperately. A few days into training, she went out, and two minutes later, she was waiting at the coop door. I let her back in, and when I didn't get the mealworm bag, she gave me a disgusted look and headed to the door.

We have a pair of Russian Orloffs, who are both smart. Our young Ameraucana roo, Dickens, has been trying (unsuccessfully) to mate with them. He is just not long-bodied enough. It's getting on the hens' nerves. He mounted one of them, and she walked under a low perch and scraped him off She looked quite proud of herself afterward.

 

[TwoCrows]

I have a 3 1/2 year old BA named Tillie. That is her in my avatar at a few months old. She is a very smart bird. She knows her name when called. But she has learned that when I am in the coop and the wind is blowing, the coop door is going to blow open and she will stand there and wait for it to open just enough for her to sneak out. She only does this when the wind is blowing and when I am in with them. I will be milling around with the rest of the birds in the run and there she is waiting at the door. LOL Then it will blow open and she sneaks out and the others just can't figure out how she got out to free range and they are stuck inside!