So, one of my chickens was recently in my bathtub because she was slightly injured from pecking. This led me to various comparisons between living with a parrot and living with a chicken.
Parrots who are lonely or bored like to watch TV, and I am just wondering if chickens like this, or like music or radio, or if this is just all too much for the little walnut-sized brain.
Parrots especially like shows such as the Muppets or Sesame Street. So I fired up the ol' YouTube and took my laptop over to the chicken. She seemed pretty disturbed, especially by Gonzo and the singing chicken chorus. She was interested, but disturbed. I did not show her the Swedish Chef with the chicken and the meat cleaver - I thought that would really be too much. I also showed her the video of herself laying her first egg! (How many chickens have watched a video on YouTube of themselves laying an egg. Now that is weird.) I also showed her some videos of roosters crowing. She has never met a rooster. She didn't seem particularly interested in the rooster.
I like to experiment with perceptions, toward understanding my animals better. This is helpful to tell what they are thinking, and this then helps with training and/or anticipating behaviors that you want to reinforce or discourage.
Maybe I should instead show her a video of nice gardens, or munchable insects?
The chickens did get pretty excited when I showed them a seed catalog recently. Interestingly, they pecked the green leafy plants in the photos more than the red tomato pictures.
Parrots who are lonely or bored like to watch TV, and I am just wondering if chickens like this, or like music or radio, or if this is just all too much for the little walnut-sized brain.
Parrots especially like shows such as the Muppets or Sesame Street. So I fired up the ol' YouTube and took my laptop over to the chicken. She seemed pretty disturbed, especially by Gonzo and the singing chicken chorus. She was interested, but disturbed. I did not show her the Swedish Chef with the chicken and the meat cleaver - I thought that would really be too much. I also showed her the video of herself laying her first egg! (How many chickens have watched a video on YouTube of themselves laying an egg. Now that is weird.) I also showed her some videos of roosters crowing. She has never met a rooster. She didn't seem particularly interested in the rooster.
I like to experiment with perceptions, toward understanding my animals better. This is helpful to tell what they are thinking, and this then helps with training and/or anticipating behaviors that you want to reinforce or discourage.
Maybe I should instead show her a video of nice gardens, or munchable insects?
The chickens did get pretty excited when I showed them a seed catalog recently. Interestingly, they pecked the green leafy plants in the photos more than the red tomato pictures.
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