Chickens, like all of us, have distinct personalities, possess intelligence and emotions and capable for fostering social development, believe it?

A study finds out that chickens have some sense of numbers. They can reason by deduction, and which is, an ability that mankind develops by the age of 7. Chickens are able to aware of their own social status and the places in the chick’s hierarchy.

Research shows that 5 days from hatch domestic chicks can discriminate between quantities. They have idea of ordinality, which is, the ability to place quantities in a series. Chickens are also capable for remembering the trajectory of a hidden object up to 3 minutes which is as good as the performance of that of most primates under the same experiment conditions.

Talking about food (not about the delicacies of many great dishes made with chicken), chickens possess some self-control ability when it comes to holding out for a better food reward. They are also able to assess their own position in the pecking order by themselves. (Well, big bros take worms first, of course!) These 2 characteristics are fundamental indicators of self-awareness.

So, it is time to rethink again before calling them "bird-brained", and let’s come back for other unexpected findings about chicken in the next issue.

 

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