Chickens using reasoning???

cc-rider · #1 11/07/06, 11:40 AM

The chickens did a funny thing last night. I never thought of chickens as having the ability to reason before!

Last night while I was working at the "farm", I left the coop door open so the chickens could run loose. We were digging holes for the pole barn, so they were hanging out watching for bugs. When it started to get dark (EARLY! Geesh!), they all headed back to the coop, so I didn't pay any attention to them.

Pretty soon, one of them comes over to me and starts squawking loudly. I laughed and said she was telling us how to do it. I told her to "go home, go to bed!" and she turned and walked back to the coop.

I watched her go back and saw that all of the others were sitting on the fence, rather than in the coop. I thought that was strange, so went to the coop and saw the door had blown shut. I opened the door and they all trooped inside and went promptly to their roosts.

I think she came over to tell me that the door was shut and they couldn't get in!!!!! Isn't that strange!?

A'sta at Hofstead · #2 11/07/06, 11:52 AM

That's cool! Makes me think of the movie Chicken Run!

mrglock27 · #3 11/07/06, 11:54 AM

I think that's the smartest chicken on planet earth, I had about 10 chickens and they were all super duper stupid.

Kstornado11 · #4 11/07/06, 11:54 AM

Oh how cute!!! My poultry constantly amaze me. I beleive they are alot smarter than given credit! She obviously was ready to go to bed, and had no qualms informing you to open the darn door!!

Sparticle · #5 11/07/06, 12:07 PM

How cute. Did you ever see the PBS special "the secret life of chickens" or something like that. It was amazing.

#6 11/07/06, 12:12 PM

Mine once did a very similar thing for the same reason. The door had blown shut. One of the hens came over past the time they'd normally have gone to roost and was clucking at me.

.....Alan.

ceresone · #7 11/07/06, 12:15 PM

Frankly, not to make anyone mad, but i think all of our animals are much smarter than we give them credit for-- i think we're the dumb ones that cant understand them.if you listen, and watch them, they usually are trying to tell you something--and isnt it terrible from our viewpoint, and smart from theirs- that they have to figure out how to communicate with you?

manfred · #8 11/07/06, 12:28 PM

Don't know just how to word this, I have a rooster that acts like he has found a real nice bug clucking etc. When the hen comes to investigate it, bingo, he's on her.

KayJay · #9 11/07/06, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ceresone

Frankly, not to make anyone mad, but i think all of our animals are much smarter than we give them credit for-- i think we're the dumb ones that cant understand them.if you listen, and watch them, they usually are trying to tell you something--and isnt it terrible from our viewpoint, and smart from theirs- that they have to figure out how to communicate with you?

I agree with you wholeheartedly.

Burbsteader · #10 11/07/06, 01:01 PM

Mine have me trained.

My last batch of hens would always know to follow me around if I had a shovel in my hand. Not a rake though. They knew which one was needed to get to the worms.

They knew if they just put up with being the 'baby' when the kids were playing house that they would get helpings of the kids snacks.

I tried to use a piece of cake to get this batch of hens to follow me. They wouldn't do it until they saw me take a bite of cake. Then they knew it was food and they came running.

One knew that I had missed bringing out dinner scraps and called for me until I came out with a snack for her. Then she went promptly to bed.

They are smart. Just chicken-smart. Human-smart they are dumb as stumps.
But then so are a lot of humans. LOL

mistletoad · #11 11/07/06, 01:16 PM

Ours outsmarted me yesterday. The bluejays started making an awful racket and the chickens all ran to hide, I was laughing at the chickens being afraid of the buejays when I saw the hawk fly over. DH reckoned the chickens had learned the bluejay language for hawk and I had to agree with him.

jassytoo · #12 11/07/06, 02:29 PM

DH had a pet rooster when he was a kid. Every day about 10 mins. before the school bus was due, that bird would head down to the corner of the street and wait for him. When he got off the bus Cousin the rooster would fly up on his shoulder and they'd walk home.

Dixielee · #13 11/07/06, 02:52 PM

I, too, think our animals are smarter than we give them credit for. When we were first building, we had an old basin that we kept full of dog food inside the old barn. Since we had 5 dogs, it held a lot of food, and the chickens frequently got into it.

One day the food was running low and our big rooster followed me into the area, stood right next to the basin, and read me the riot act. It was almost like he was saying, "Can't you see that there is barely anything in here? Don't you know it is hard for the little hens to get in and out of this bucket when it is nearly empty, please keep it filled for us".

We did, and he was happy, and so were his hens.

Jeff54321 · #14 11/07/06, 03:04 PM

Read this:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1770

Spotted Crow · #15 11/07/06, 03:22 PM

Cool article...
My crowing hen Slifer knew when my son would be coming home from school. She and her sister would stand by the front door until he came in.
One day he was late and she paced and paced and paced and looked out the door and up and down the street until he came home. He got a nice peck and a chase for being late and worrying her.
When my DH would call and say that he was coming home from work, I'd tell the girls,"Porch" and they'd go to the back porch.

**ladycat** · #16 11/07/06, 03:47 PM

That's funny. I too have seen chickens do some pretty smart stuff.

I have a pan of water in the silky pen that I keep in there when I put chicks in, because the adults tend to hang out on the end with the auto waterer, and the chicks don't like going to that end.

So yesterday I stepped in the silkie pen. A chick came running to me and looked up at me. Then he ran to the water pan, and started looking at the water pan, then at me. He ran between me and the water pan a couple times and kept looking at the pan, then me. He was very plainly trying to get me to look. So I walked to the water pan and it was empty.

That 2 month old chick was playing Lassie LOL. He was letting me know I needed to fill the water pan, so I did.

Country Doc · #17 11/07/06, 03:59 PM

Good story. My brother had one he trained . He would stick out his hand and the chicken would run up and lay her head in it to the side.

wyld thang · #18 11/07/06, 05:14 PM

one day I was spliting wood and had Prairie Home COmpanion on the radio. They sang "Savior Like A Shepherd Lead Us" and my chickens started dancing--scooting around flapping their wings and clucking. Song over they stopped.

When she was a kid my grandma had a pet chicken that would dance with her.

MaKettle · #19 11/07/06, 05:20 PM

Our chickens, etc., are free range, and can easily fly over the fences. If they fly into the neighbor's pasture, the predators get them. If they fly into our yard, they are relatively safe. If they stay in their yard, the geese scare off anything making hungry eyes. The guineas and ducks do not leave their yard. The chickens do not go into the neighbor's pasture, even tho it is full of cow patties with yummy maggots. They love to run around in our yard and tear up the mulch. They do not seem to ever find the hole in the fence except to get through to the flower garden, but not to get back to the barnyard.

**ladycat** · #20 11/07/06, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wyld thang

one day I was spliting wood and had Prairie Home COmpanion on the radio. They sang "Savior Like A Shepherd Lead Us" and my chickens started dancing--scooting around flapping their wings and clucking. Song over they stopped.

When she was a kid my grandma had a pet chicken that would dance with her.

I used to have a parrot who sang and danced everytime he heard Led Zeppelin. He wasn't taught, he just did it all on his own.