Chickens never cease to amaze us! Professor Christine Nicol discovered chickens are not stupid as previously thought. In a study spanning more than 20 years she found chickens are greedy and figured out quickly that if they wait they get to eat longer, that chickens have mathematical skills, and unique cognitive abilities.
Christine Nicol, (Bristol University Professor of Animal Welfare) reviewed 20 years of research on the topic of chicken intelligence said it is wrong to think of chickens as being stupid stating that they have many hidden depths’. Chickens were given a choice between two or three plastic eggs, they would inevitably choose the more eggs. Even when researchers would move the eggs from one group to another the birds would choose the larger group. Newborn baby chicks could keep track of numbers up to five, indicating cognitive and mathmatical abilities. In further experiments the chickens showed more interest in a diagram of objects which could be built rather than one that defied the law of physics. The birds were able to understand that even if an object was moved out of their view it still exists. This study showed that human children are usually around a year old when they are able to grasp this same concept. Other traits discovered in this study demonstrated that chickens show basic empathy, can plan ahead, and self control which was proven in one study where 93% of the hens were given food for a longer period of time if they waited longer to get it (McRae,2013).
In a video called the Hidden Depths of Chicken Intelligence featured by GeoBeats News studies concluded chickens have the average intelligence of a 7 year old, have cognitive abilities, and communication skills and other amazing things about just how smart chickens really are: "The findings of a researcher with The Someone Project could change everything we think we know about chickens". GeoBeats News. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7_VH_kj0aD9vhuHmFheUYQ. Published on Jan 17, 2017
Recent studies and research on chicken intelligence suggest chickens even have the ability for "mental time travel: "Take, for instance, a suite of papers published over the last decade by Rosa Rugani at the University of Padova, Italy, and her colleagues. Working with newly-hatched chicks, the researchers have shown that chickens can count and perform basic arithmetic.
Chickens may also have some ability to perform "mental time travel"
The chicks were raised from hatching with five objects – the plastic containers from Kinder Surprise eggs. After a few days, the scientists took the five objects and, in full view of the chicks, hid three behind one screen and two behind a second screen. The chicks were more likely to approach the screen hiding more of the objects.
A follow-up experiment tested the chicks' memory and ability to add and subtract. After the objects had been hidden behind the two screens, the scientists began transferring objects between the two screens, in view of the chicks. The chicks seemed to keep track of how many objects were behind each screen, and were still more likely to approach the screen that hid the larger number of objects. Chickens have a strong grasp of numerical tasks from a young age, even if they have limited experience, says Rugani" (Barras, Colin 2019).
"Rugani et al. (2009) demonstrated that five-day-old domestic chicks are able to perform arithmetic operations to a total of five objects (Rugani et al. 2009). When they were presented with two sets of objects of different quantities disappearing behind two screens, they were able to successfully track which screen hid the larger number by apparently performing simple addition and subtraction. Finally, in a compelling demonstration of shared cognitive propensities in chicks and humans, Rugani et al. (2015) showed that chicks always associate the smaller of two quantities with the left, rather than right, spatial location. The authors suggest that, due to similar neural architecture, the chicks, like many other species, have a shared predisposition to map numbers onto geometrical space in a similar way"(Marino, 2017).
Of course, for those of us who raise backyard chickens, we know just how smart our chickens are.
In a video called the Hidden Depths of Chicken Intelligence featured by GeoBeats News studies concluded chickens have the average intelligence of a 7 year old, have cognitive abilities, and communication skills and other amazing things about just how smart chickens really are: "The findings of a researcher with The Someone Project could change everything we think we know about chickens". GeoBeats News. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7_VH_kj0aD9vhuHmFheUYQ. Published on Jan 17, 2017
Recent studies and research on chicken intelligence suggest chickens even have the ability for "mental time travel: "Take, for instance, a suite of papers published over the last decade by Rosa Rugani at the University of Padova, Italy, and her colleagues. Working with newly-hatched chicks, the researchers have shown that chickens can count and perform basic arithmetic.
Chickens may also have some ability to perform "mental time travel"
The chicks were raised from hatching with five objects – the plastic containers from Kinder Surprise eggs. After a few days, the scientists took the five objects and, in full view of the chicks, hid three behind one screen and two behind a second screen. The chicks were more likely to approach the screen hiding more of the objects.
A follow-up experiment tested the chicks' memory and ability to add and subtract. After the objects had been hidden behind the two screens, the scientists began transferring objects between the two screens, in view of the chicks. The chicks seemed to keep track of how many objects were behind each screen, and were still more likely to approach the screen that hid the larger number of objects. Chickens have a strong grasp of numerical tasks from a young age, even if they have limited experience, says Rugani" (Barras, Colin 2019).
"Rugani et al. (2009) demonstrated that five-day-old domestic chicks are able to perform arithmetic operations to a total of five objects (Rugani et al. 2009). When they were presented with two sets of objects of different quantities disappearing behind two screens, they were able to successfully track which screen hid the larger number by apparently performing simple addition and subtraction. Finally, in a compelling demonstration of shared cognitive propensities in chicks and humans, Rugani et al. (2015) showed that chicks always associate the smaller of two quantities with the left, rather than right, spatial location. The authors suggest that, due to similar neural architecture, the chicks, like many other species, have a shared predisposition to map numbers onto geometrical space in a similar way"(Marino, 2017).
Of course, for those of us who raise backyard chickens, we know just how smart our chickens are.
References:
- Macrae, Fiona (June 18, 2013, updated June 19, 2013). Chickens smarter than human toddlers studies suggest. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2344198/Chickens-smarter-human-toddlers-Studies-suggest-animals-master-numeracy-basic-engineering.html#ixzz4T9l9hwml
- "Researcher Finds Chickens To Be Smart, Empathetic, And Complex Creatures." YouTube. N. p., 2019. Web. 12 Sept. 2019.
- Barras, Colin. "Despite What You Might Think, Chickens Are Not Stupid." Bbc.com. N. p., 2019. Web. 12 Sept. 2019.
- Marino L. (2017). Thinking chickens: a review of cognition, emotion, and behavior in the domestic chicken. Animal cognition, 20(2), 127–147. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-016-1064-4
