Examples Of Chicken Intelligence

[LoveOfFeathers]

• I have a silkie pullet that has learnt that if she pecks the top of my boot twice, I’ll pick her up and put her in my lap for snuggles. She can be so demanding sometimes, I’ll cuddle her for a few minutes then put her back on the ground, she’ll come back peck the top of my boot for more. She nuzzles up into my hair and tries to nuzzle under my arm.
• My birds know what go night night means, they will go get on the roost or put themselves up for bed.
• I have a mean rooster that knows not to flog my milk jug waterer or he will get wet from flogging it. As long as I have my jug I’m safe, lol.
• I have a hen that will let me know that she filled her chicks waterer with shavings and that she wants it cleaned out.

 

[TwoCrows]

Chickens are smarter than most people give them credit for. Intelligent sensitive creatures!

 

[DonyaQuick]

My birds know what go night night means, they will go get on the roost or put themselves up for bed.

Several of mine also know what phrases "bed time" means, but those hens do the exact opposite and try to escape and run to the house for last-minute treats or do whatever else gets them maximal attention to delay roosting. You can tell when an animal understands a phrase if it either consistently does what you want or consistently does the exact opposite LOL.

 

[5Australorpasaures]

Nope, not here, they're all bird brains.

 

[My_lil_buffs]

Did you train your silkie to do that? That’s amazing if you did please let me know. I should love to teach my buff Orpington. I taught her to jump on my shoulder but it just whenever she’s wants and most of the time I thinks she’s attacking me .

 

[GlicksChicks]

One of my Buff Orpington pullets waits for me to squat or sit down in the coop and then she immediately runs to me from across the coop/run making little trumpet noises and then she rests her head on my lap so I can give her back and belly scratches. One of my Buff Orpington cockerels and a Golden Sexlink pullet have caught on to this and they come and join in.

My hens also seem to know the difference between a pretty realistic fake egg and a real egg, they kick them out of the nest and keeo the real ones in.

They also know what it means when I have my sickle, plants. Or when I have a small white bowl, kitchen scraps.

 

[Perris]

I have a young broody (13 months old) that worked out, in just 4 days since her brood hatched, that she needed to call her chicks in hushed tones in order to avoid attracting the attention of adult flock members, who would otherwise come running and snaffle up tasty edibles she was directing her chicks to eat. Smart girl.

edited to add: this concerns edibles like live mealworms or sardines that I took to them, not things she found foraging in the garden.

 

[GlicksChicks]

I have a young broody (13 months old) that worked out, in just 4 days since her brood hatched, that she needed to call her chicks in hushed tones in order to avoid attracting the attention of adult flock members, who would otherwise come running and snaffle up tasty edibles she was directing her chicks to eat. Smart girl.

edited to add: this concerns edibles like live mealworms or sardines that I took to them, not things she found foraging in the garden.

My hen would run in to where there were treats, snatch some treats, and bolt away to where she had her babies and give them the treats. It was cute!

 

[The Coop Crew]

My head hen calls all of the other girls for bed. She will call them, go up, make sure they’re all in the coop, come back down and do a couple “security rounds” before she goes up to bed herself. I’m sure this is pretty normal chicken behavior but it’s so fascinating to me!

 

[Sally PB]

It's Japanese Beetle season. I hunt them and give them to the chickens. They know what it means if I say, "Bug snack!"

Last year there were so many JBs that I stored some in the freezer. I took some out to the chickens in January. They seemed confused when I said, "Bug snack!" but came running when they saw them on top of their usual mash.

A week later when I called, "Bug snack," they knew exactly what I meant.