10 facts about CHICKENS
There's a lot more to chickens than you might think
Did you know that chickens can see more colors than humans do? This is just one of many fascinating facts about these interesting, feathered animals. Highly intelligent and sociable, chickens are complex creatures and they have been part of human lives for many years. Here are 10 facts about these special birds that might surprise you.
- Chickens love to play, run, skip and flap their wings. They also enjoy sunbathing. 1
- Hens teach sounds to their chicks while they are still in the egg. 2
- Chickens have excellent memories and are able to distinguish between more than 100 faces of their species. They can also recognize people.3
- Chickens are able to distinguish between colors. They also see ultraviolet light and iridescent hues. Chickens have been found to prefer blue objects with red being the next preferred. These two colors are then followed by orange and green. The contrast in color is very important in attracting chickens to food and water. 4
- Chickens demonstrate REM (Rapid Eye Movement) when sleeping. They are capable of dreaming, just like us human beings.5
- Chickens can show empathy and hens can act as a ‘social buffer’ for their baby chicks.3,6
- The cognitive skills of chickens are similarly high to those of a dog or cat. 3
- Chickens have pain receptors, which means that they are able to feel pain and suffering. 7
- They can taste salty, sour and bitter foods but cannot perceive sweet tastes. Only 2% of a chicken's taste buds are on their tongue; the rest are located at the back of the oral cavity. This means that a chicken can only taste what it's eating as it is swallowing it. 8
- Chickens understand that when an object is taken away and hidden, it still exists. 3
- Chickens enjoy a good bath, dust bath that is. They will dig shallow pits in the dirt in which they can roll around in the dust and flap their wings. They do this to keep bugs and parasites away but also to help keep themselves insulated. 5
- They make friends! Some bonds are so close that when a chicken dies, another may display signs of grief, mourning, and depression.9
Resources
1. Baxter M, Bailie CL, O’Connell NE. Play behaviour, fear responses and activity levels in commercial broiler chickens provided with preferred environmental enrichments. Animal. 2019;13(1):171–179. doi:10.1017/S1751731118001118
2. Caughey M. How to Speak Chicken: Why Your Chickens Do What They Do & Say What They Say. Hachette UK; 2017.
3. Marino L. Thinking chickens: a review of cognition, emotion, and behavior in the domestic chicken. Animal Cognition. 2017;20(2). doi:10.1007/s10071-016-1064-4
4. Seifert M, Baden T, Osorio D. The retinal basis of vision in chicken. Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology. 2020;106:106–115. doi:10.1016/j.semcdb.2020.03.011
5. Rattenborg NC, van der Meij J, Beckers GJL, Lesku JA. Local Aspects of Avian Non-REM and REM Sleep. Frontiers in Neuroscience. 2019;13:567. doi:10.3389/fnins.2019.00567
6. Edgar JL, Lowe JC, Paul ES, Nicol CJ. Avian maternal response to chick distress. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2011;278(1721):3129–3134. doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.2701
7. Gentle MJ. Pain in Birds. Animal Welfare. 1992;1(4):235–247. doi:10.1017/S0962728600015189
8. Yoshida Y, Nishimura S, Tabata S, Kawabata F. Chicken taste receptors and perception: recent advances in our understanding of poultry nutrient-sensing systems. World’s Poultry Science Journal. 2022;78(1):5–20. doi:10.1080/00439339.2022.2007437
9. http://modernfarmer.com/2016/03/chicken-facts/
Source
2 Caughey M. How to Speak Chicken: Why Your Chickens Do What They Do & Say What They Say. Hachette UK; 2017.
3 Marino L. Thinking chickens: a review of cognition, emotion, and behavior in the domestic chicken. Animal Cognition. 2017;20(2). doi:10.1007/s10071-016-1064-4
4 Seifert M, Baden T, Osorio D. The retinal basis of vision in chicken. Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology. 2020;106:106–115. doi:10.1016/j.semcdb.2020.03.011
5 Rattenborg NC, van der Meij J, Beckers GJL, Lesku JA. Local Aspects of Avian Non-REM and REM Sleep. Frontiers in Neuroscience. 2019;13:567. doi:10.3389/fnins.2019.00567
6 Edgar JL, Lowe JC, Paul ES, Nicol CJ. Avian maternal response to chick distress. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2011;278(1721):3129–3134. doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.2701
7 Gentle MJ. Pain in Birds. Animal Welfare. 1992;1(4):235–247. doi:10.1017/S0962728600015189
8 Yoshida Y, Nishimura S, Tabata S, Kawabata F. Chicken taste receptors and perception: recent advances in our understanding of poultry nutrient-sensing systems. World’s Poultry Science Journal. 2022;78(1):5–20. doi:10.1080/00439339.2022.2007437