Interesting Facts About Chicken
Many scientists argue that with the intelligence of chickens and their natural abilities, not everything is so simple. Anyway, don’t underestimate the mental abilities of these poultry. As evidenced by most of the interesting facts about chicken presented here
The former farmer quickly appreciated the excellent commercial and taste qualities of the chickens, who, moreover, could not fly periodically to warmer climates, and began to “actively “overdo” them. This process went so far that, according to unbiased statistics, today chickens hold the palm of all domestic animals in terms of the number of individuals raised for human consumption.
It can be assumed that humanity, not to feel unnecessary remorse at seeing thousands and thousands of chicken carcasses in the slaughterhouse and not spoiling its appetite when thinking of the cruel treatment of Corydalis, has convinced itself that chickens, so to speak, do not have a special mind, very quarrelsome and unintelligible in many things. Well, to soften the feeling of mental discomfort.
Excellent memory
Chickens, it seems, are able to distinguish more than a hundred members of their own species and for a long time remember “in the face” of relatives in their flock. The experts assure: if one of the laying hens is temporarily (say, a few days) resettled from her own chicken coop, then upon returning, the chicken team will accept it with its wings extended. Didn’t you know that in terms of this ability, an ordinary ryaba chicken can compete with elephants?
Relationship with dinosaurs
Chickens have colorful vision – well, just like humans! Some experts explain this feature… by the relationship of chickens with dinosaurs. Since those distant times, when most mammals were nocturnal, lizards evolved into birds. And at the same time, were never nocturnal animals. That’s why, scientists say, modern chickens only remotely and very schematically similar to formidable reptiles are endorsed with good color vision.
Sociable birds
Chickens are able to “tell” each other about what they see in front of them. For humans, this “conversation” is perceived as an incoherent series of act by and simple clicks of beak. However, experts call this whole set of sounds “language of communication”. Our birds have recorded more than 24 different voices, which are very important for your life, safety and comfort. Chickens can clearly and on time notify their relatives about the appearance of any dangerous predator. Also about tasty food or about a convenient place to rest…
They feel pain
Chickens have well-developed pain receptors. This condition makes them very sensitive to the pain and different physical sufferings. One can imagine how painful it is for them when, in modern farms, chickens are cut from their beaks using an infrared laser without painkillers.
Great parents
Adult chickens are highly aggressive and protect their chicks very selflessly from ruthless predators. And in general, they love their young very much – they miss the chickens when the children are isolated from the family for whatever reason, worry to see that the chicks feel bad and fall into severe depression in the event of the death of the offspring. So when someone calls you “chicken” as an insult, you know what to tell your offender.
Noisy creatures
Chickens, and especially young chickens, are very noisy birds. They love to run, jump, roar and sunbathe in the sun when they have the opportunity. There are many reasons why a real complaceretion can arise in the chicken coop from scratch, a huge number – starting with the appearance of a stranger in the chicken coop, not sharing food and ending with the solemn announcement “I finally had sex!” Meanwhile, millions and millions of birds on modern farms spend their entire lives in cramped aviaries, an area that barely exceeds a sheet of A4 paper.
And dreamers!
Domestic chickens are able to … dream. Yes, so do people. How was it installed? Quite simply – by a factor like “rapid eye movement”. It turns out that the REM phase, or the called. REM sleep, characteristic of humans and chickens, indicates an increased degree of brain activity. Thus, one can suppose with a high degree of certainty that when the chick sleeps, he is taken in his dreams to somewhere far away, far from the four walls of the odious prison.
They swallow grass
Do you know how chickens eat grass? They just swallow it completely naively, as one person does with spaghetti. Yes, you read it right! let’s continue to facts about chicken..
Wild and domestic individuals run differently
Chickens are wild and chickens are domestic and run in different ways. The former, for example, lay only 10 to 15 eggs per year during the breeding season. A completely different issue is domesticated laying hens, which must be transported on an industrial scale. These birds, thanks to a certain selection, lay eggs almost every day. In addition, such intensity in egg production (which, incidentally, depends on many factors, including the breed of ripples) usually has a rather negative effect on the health of birds, since their natural reproductive properties are violated and the egg laying capacity is exhausted after a few years.
They are smarter than human children
Research scientists have shown that chickens are probably smarter than human children. Either way, the research confidently demonstrates the ability of popular domestic birds to mathematical talents. Their self-control, and even a predisposition to primary building skills.
Social hierarchy
Most of the times chickens usually know who among them is the most powerful and the real boss. Like people, they form some other groups and social structures in their herd, clearly obeying the generally recognized established hierarchy. And at the same time, all chickens know their place on this social ladder. However, their entire social hierarchy completely collapses when thousands of unhappy birds are trapped in cages in intensive industrial farms. As a result, birds, under the influence of constant stress, begin to fight fiercely with each other, peck and peck their own species to death, so cases of real cannibalism are not uncommon among chickens.
Vulnerable
Chickens, according to some researchers, feel extremely vulnerable when they are on open artificial pastures. It turns out that the main point is that initially in nature they lived in dense tropical forests, where it was easy to hide from predators. All this ended 7,000 or 3,000 years ago in African Ethiopia or Southeast Asia (scientists are still arguing about all this), when one person finally tamed these beautiful wild creatures. By the way, according to one version, not because of tasty meat for easy digestion, but because of cruel fights.
It’s not so easy to deal with predators
Research scientists prove that chickens survive after being attacked by predators in 90% of cases if they live in their natural environment. By the way, there are several cases in which chickens that survived the attack of predators lived several days and even months … headless! Unbelievable, but it’s among one of the most interesting facts about chicken.
Close Relatives… tyrannosaurus
One of the interesting facts about chicken is that chickens are the closest living animal species to the terrible tyrannosaur lizards that died millions of years ago. Some scientists see this relationship not only in the similarity of habits, but also in the minimal amount of genetic changes that chickens, compared to other birds, have undergoing in the path of the evolution of ferocious pangolins. Fortunately, the feathered heroes of our history are clearly not as scary as their toothy ancestors.
Roosters are extremely loving
The love of roosters is well known, which play a dominant role in the hierarchical system of the chicken community. It is also known that the process of persistent courting of burning males is necessarily accompanied by a specific dance, which English aviers call “tidbitting”, which can be roughly translated as “offering a tidbit”. At the same time, the rooster, in an attack of loving passion, shakes its head, moves the body up and down, thus attracting the chicken’s attention and encouraging it to reciprocate. And if the rooster has a large enough comb, preference among other roosters is guaranteed.
Development of abstract thinking
Chickens – both adult and yellow-mouthed – demonstrate excellent memory, observation and, as a result, well-developed abstract thinking. Of course, unless, you can say that about some “stupid” chickens. Either way, they are able to understand that the object they have seen and then hidden from them must still exist somewhere. By the way, even young children do not have this ability.
Communicate with embryos
The mother hens, according to the zoologists, during the incubation of future chickens, communicate slowly with the embryos in the eggs. And the unborn chicks respond clearly to the mothers a few days before hatching. But this happens in nature or in a quiet courtyard of the village. Chickens born in a factory incubator are deprived of the opportunity not only to communicate with the chicken before birth, but also to meet their parents in general – after all, the egg is removed immediately as soon as the chicken puts it.
Sun Worshippers
Chickens are true sun worshippers. They constantly follow the rays of the sun, orienting themselves around the sun in search of food and water. And the level of sunlight lets birds know about the time – isn’t it bedtime? However, most chickens, which are bred for tasty meat and nutritious eggs, hardly ever see the sun, sitting in their dark, windowless aviaries.
Fans of dusty baths
Without exception, all chickens love dusty baths and, according to experienced people, are extremely upset when they are deprived of the opportunity to clean their feathers in such a unique way in perfectly clean industrial farms. But the dust bath is really effective for getting rid of dangerous parasites and keeping feathers healthy.
And another interesting facts about chicken – they are simply delicious! But unfortunately, these beautiful, intelligent and emotional birds often have to live in horrible conditions before they reach the human table.