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

[jojo54]

Lulu, my house chicken knows where she is allowed to sit in the living room. I have a footstool and one end of the sofa covered with sheets and towels for her to sit on. She only sits on these two spots. She walks into the living room and jumps up onto either spot and cuddles in. I have never found her on any other chair or the rest of the couch.

 

[specklesmom]

Yay, Lulu!!! What a smart girl she is. I love hearing about house chickens!! You should post some photos showing Lulu on her designated seating area. Can she see the TV or where you work at your computer from where she sits? Or maybe she has a view of the ordinary chickens outside on the dirt.

The video of the rooster who had his escape route all planned out was fascinating. He did some thinking and some careful flying/balancing to get it all worked out. It almost looked as if he was looking around when he got up on the first post to see if anyone was watching before he flew up to the top of the fence. Sneaky boy!!

 

[she'scountry68]

are you sure she is a rooster?

 

[jojo54]

Quote:
The footstool is near the computer so she is close when I'm on there. She has one end of the couch and I lay on the rest when I read, but anytime I find her on the couch she is on her end, never mine. She can't see out the windows in the living room but likes to be part of what is happening (she is very nosy and curious) Unfortunately the rest of the chickens were killed the beginning of October by dogs or coyotes. She didn't live with them but misses seeing them when she is outside. Poor girl is quite lonely so we spend lots of time together.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Aww, Lulu is so sweet.

Here is a link to another thread that has some good stories about smart chickens: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=427216&p=1

 

[ChickInDelight]

The chickens posed as building inspectors while I built the duckhouse- always fascintated:

Then - the day it was done (a long time after its beginning), Buffy, not my most affectionate girl, jumped up on the roof, got all in my face, and demanded entry:

I added roosts to the duckhouse, and now everyone sleeps there. Notice I added chicken artwork to the predominantly duck theme:

Penny gets up on stuff all the time to be closer to me, but Buffy only once made a stand. Buffy is also the only one to go to the house at night on her own - in the pouring rain. Otherwise, I had to carry all the chickens and put them to bed for a long time. Now, I just carry Buffy and Roxie (who hates me) and Penny follows, so Prudy comes along too because she does not want to be alone.

Penny is definately my smartest girl! I am sometimes tempted to go the way of Lulu, but I just don't think I need the additional mess in my home.

 

[AZ_HenHouse]

I have some smart chickens
My son planted sunflowers in the garden and we had several large heads full of seeds. The heavy heads droop over and the girls have a designated hitter who jumps up and hits the head to make seeds fall down for them to all eat. Only the biggest two girls do the jumping and all the rest greedily eat up all the seeds that fall. Of course they didn't even care about the sunflower seeds until my son let them eat some seeds one day and they discovered how good they are. Took an afternoon for them to figure out how to get the seeds themselves

Here is a pic of them eating their goodies-Hard to capture a chicken in midflight

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Food often motivates chicken ingenuity.

I was looking for more smart chicken stories to keep this thread going. Pinky wrote this about her rooster back in 2008:

"When I try to sleep in my RIR rooster will go up to my window and crow until I open the blinds and he sees I am awake. Then he will come up on the deck and wait for me to come out with their food."

Here is a short thread about some other smart roosters: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=346091

 

[daver]

DW wanted to know why the big boy wouldn't come up on the deck like the girls do.

My response: Two grills and a smoker parked up there. He ain't dumb.

Dave

 

[Linn Bee]

I can call my chickens to me. I've used the same call before feeding them since they were fluffy chicks. It ALWAYS means I've got something good to eat.

I was surprised to find how smart chickens could be. The first day I let them out of their coop, I called them along a hedge row to a group of shrubs smothered with Japanese Beetles. There I fed them by shaking the beetles to the ground.

The next morning the chickens ran ahead and beat me to the shrubs. One day and they knew where breakfast was being served.

--------

Two of my Australorps were especially enthralled by my ability to produce food. Once they caught sight of me they would follow me everywhere in the yard waiting for me to share my JBs with them. Since Japanese Beetles eat almost everything that's growing, it was a sure bet I'd find some for Lacy and Lucy. They are still the two girls most likely to be underfoot.

Love, Linn B (aka Smart Red) Gardening zone 5a - 4b in south-est, central-est Wisconsin