Apparently, middle school summer reading book Watership Downmight as well have been written about chickens. According to new research, chickens are pretty sneaky and even Machiavellian! You heard that right. So stop calling your forgetful friends “bird brains,” unless you mean to say they’re pretty darn smart. As scientists published in Animal Cognition , chickens actually demonstrate thinking skills on par with mammals and other primates. Wow.
Here’s what scientific research has to say about chickens:
1.They are masters of deceit
Our feathered friends are actually quite deceitful. The males would make food calls when no food was actually present as a means to attract females. The males would also cluck more quietly while wooing female chickens if rival male chickens were present. This was to prevent their rivals from realizing potential mates were in the area. Sounds like a typical man.
2.They can count.
Yes, you read that correctly. Chickens can count. Even newly hatched chicks can discern quantities and do simple arithmetic. Those of us who needed extra help with their Algebra homework should have had some pet chickens lying around.
They can talk.
According to The Telegraph, chicken communication consists of an impressively varied repertoire of different visual displays and at least 24 distinct vocalizations which they use to sound the alarm for danger or attract a mate, because, of course they can. Of course.
They have major self control
Scientists found that birds would hold out for better food reward, and are “able to self-assess their position in the pecking order, two characteristics which are indicative of self-awareness.”
Chickens are self-aware? We’ve been spending all this time worrying about robots becoming self-aware. But maybe we need to be watching our farm animals more carefully!
They have feelings
Researchers discovered that chickens experience a wide range of complex positive and negative emotions. For one thing, they definitely feel fear, anxiety, and anticipation. Well, now I just feel bad about eating eggs.
As Dr. Loro Marino, a senior scientist for The Someone Project, a joint venture of Farm Sanctuary and the Kimmela Center, explained:
“Chickens have the capacity to reason and make logical inferences, a capability that humans develop at approximately the age of seven. They perceive time intervals and may be able to anticipate future events.“Chickens are behaviorally sophisticated, discriminating among individuals, exhibiting Machiavellian-like social interactions, and learning socially in complex ways that are similar to humans.”
Well, now we’re terrified.
Here’s hoping our feathered friends don’t rise up and take over the human race, because it seems like they might one day be able to!
