Have you ever had a group of chickens that's just smarter than the rest?

[WalkingOnSunshine]

My grown birds all come running if I call. The babies were a particularly freaky group. It's been a chore trying to settle them down.

 

[n8ivetxn]

I don't dare walk outside with a plate (or anything that remotely resembles one) in my hands!

 

[diggergal]

It not that my group of chickens are especially intelligent; my neighbors are ignorant when it comes to chickens.
My neighbors called us on our cell phone after they saw us leave in the evening, " Hey, your chickens are out.", My husband replies "That's OK they will go back to the coop when it gets close to dusk." The neighbor replies "OK" and then my husband hears him tell his spouse somewhat incredulous, "Its OK, they have trained them to go back to the coop at dark".
We got a good chuckle out of this, but I did appreciate they cared enough about the welfare of the chickens to call us.

PS We have a pop door that shuts automatically so our chickens are safe.

 

[animallover505]

this is funny, I love it!!

 

[Alyce birdbrain]

Well my Guapo ameraucana roo is by far the most intelligent bird I have ever came across and my aunt raised all different kinds of parrots. If he could he Would talk and he does in his own way. He does understand me.
Example #1 - my flock went next door and my neighbor let me know They were tete (he was amazed by this also by the way) I went over and Guapo looked around the corner of the house and saw me. I called them and he ducked back behind the house then came out with the whole flock and turkey behind him. They were taking their sweet time so I said with my hands on my hips "well let's go. Your not supposed to be over here anyway." He started trotting up the hill to the house with the others in tow. My neighbor said it was the darndest thing he had ever seen.
Example #2 - Guapo is going crazy for one of the hens in the enclosure next to his. One day when every one was out for free play he chased her into get enclosure and was trying to force himself on her. I yelled at him to stop and go home. He stopped looked at me, lifted his head indignantly and walked back over to his enclosure watching me the whole time. I went and told him I loved him so much and if hr were a man I Would marry him. I then picked him up and gave him a hug and pet. He giggled at me then he went off to find some bugs.
Maybe I'm crazy and I know I am but the mote time I think you spend with your animals even if They are fish (mine splash when They want snacks) the more you realize that They do have definite personalities just like people. Some dull, some extroverted, some pleasant, some not.
That's my story and I'm sticken to it.

 

[brandislee]

Mine confound me... they definitely know where they gate is when they're INSIDE the run, because they crowd around it when they see me, even if I'm nowhere near the gate, and squawk at me. But when they're outside they have the darndest time finding the gate. They'll be on the opposite side of the coop from the gate, or the opposite side of the run, and just pace like they're missing it somehow.

 

[ams3651]

I got Tetra Tints this year too because I couldnt wait and they have matured a little faster than the others I got at the same time. I have to say of all my chickens though the EEs are the most intelligent, one I call Whiskers the Wonder Chicken because, for so many reasons, shes just rediculously smart. On the other hand my RIR are some of the most.....uh.... challenged. LOL

 

[Chicken Staff]

I think chickens are far smarter than we give them credit for, but I think it has a lot to do with what kind of environment they live in and whether or not they have a rooster to tell the hens what to do. My little flock of four free range in my smallish suburban backyard and occasionally in our front yard when we have time to hen-sit them. There's lots of interesting things for them to get into and figure out.

My Mensa girl is Gertrude, a red sexlink. She's always leading the other girls into some type of chicken mayhem.

A few months ago, Gertrude was having some type of laying anxiety. At first, I thought she might be egg bound, so I had her sit in a warm bath... After drying her off, I placed her in an antique basket lined with towels in my bedroom. She settled down after a while and laid her egg. The next morning, I heard a tap, tap, tap on the sliding glass door to my bedroom. When I opened it, Gertrude calmly strolled in and went directly for the basket. She wasn't happy, though, since I had removed the towels. I relined the basket with towels, but she continued to fuss about, angrily trying to tell me something. Silly me, I had put the beige towels in the basket instead of the blue ones. This went on for about a week until my husband and I went out of town for a few days and my son wouldn't put up with her silliness. Oh, no, our girls aren't spoiled.

 

[chedva]

automatic shutting door...has it ever shut before they're all in?

 

[S1mba]

We had some kind of red hen mixes when I was small, lumped in with all the purebreds.

One of them was taught to do tricks- a lovely, greedy, bossy, friendly hen who would leave food to follow people, sat on command, and would sit on your shoulder when you went around the garden. She reared a good-sized clutch, and one of her offspring had her character and bred again.

Two generations and one bad fox raid later we were down to solely the fourth-generation offspring of those two hens. They were big, they were incredibly greedy, they were cantankerous, and they loved people. They all stole food and learned commands relatively easily, and even the roosters could be picked up like footballs and petted by small children. It was the first time we'd never had any really stupid chickens. These guys would hop up and sit on your lap to be petted. We did have the same problem as n8ivetxn- fond memories of walking outside with a peach, looking down at the calculating look in the hen's eye. Next thing I know the peach is gone and being divvied up among the chicks, right out of my hand.

I would kill to have a similar line again.