Share these chicken facts with anyone who needs a to hatch a new perspective.
Despite many misconceptions, these chicken facts reveal these feathered creatures to be clever, emotional beings. Like all other animals, they deserve our respect.
Funny chicken facts
1. Tweet Serenades
One of the sweetest things you’ll ever hear is that hens chirp to their babies while they’re in the eggs, and the chicks chirp back! They also make around 30 different calls to communicate with each other, expressing everything from “thanks for the food” to “there’s a predator in the coop”
2. Chickens purr like cats!
When a chicken is happy, cosy, and safe, they will close their eyes and purr softly. You’ll just have to trust us on this one, or head to TikTok.
3. Chickens can recognise you 👀
Chickens don’t just recognise other chickens. These faces included those of humans! Chickens even remember positive or negative experiences with the faces they recognise and pass that information on to members of their flocks. According to this study, they can distinguish between friends and strangers.
Chicken intelligence Facts
4. Forget the term 'bird-brained'
Studies like Szabó et al. (2022) and Wiles et al. (2023) highlight chickens as space masters, adept at problem-solving and object recognition. Chickens can solve puzzles by pecking the pieces with their beaks to let their human helpers know which ones go where and have also been caught on tape finding treats hidden under cups.
Which underscores the importance of providing them with enriching environments.
5. Chickens are quick learners
Move over canines. Do chickens get smarter with a bit of training? Absolutely! Biswal et al. (2022) uncovered their capacity to gather spatial info and ace tasks with a bit of coaching. Forget the old saying; you can teach a chicken new tricks!
6. Chick them out!
Who knew chickens could be mathematical marvels? Research into arithmetic in newborn chicks shows they've got basic maths skills, even a mental number line and can count from left to right.
It's time to credit these beautiful birds for more than just laying eggs!
7. Winged wisdom
It’s not just your grandparents or parents who can show you the shortcuts to life. Chickens pass down knowledge from generation to generation if given the chance.
Like how we’ve learned to wear sunscreen, chickens also use past experiences to inform their decisions. They’ll remember enjoying certain foods or what brought danger to their flock and make decisions based on those experiences.
A chickens capacity to think and feel
8. Their dreams are complex
Similar to dogs and cats who may act like they’re chasing something while asleep, chickens also have very vivid dreams. Chickens experience rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep, but researchers don’t yet know what they dream about. We can only imagine!
9. Chickens have feelings and emotions, that matter
Chickens are the epitome of empaths.
Empathy is one of the most interesting things about chickens. If a peer is hurt, stressed, or even happy, other chickens will not only understand, but share those feelings.
10. Communication is in the coop!
Chicken Run isn't all fiction.
We have Marino (2017) to thank for spilling the beans on their language skills and advocating for the re-framing of current views about their abilities.
11. The Pecking Order
If you’ve heard the term “pecking order” in your life, that comes from the flock structure of chickens. These pecking orders are extremely complex social structures and flock members know exactly where they fit in.
On the subject of the pecking order, did you realise iconic fast-food brands such as McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Starbucks are still failing on chicken welfare?
Chickens are deserving of good lives
Chickens are the most intensely farmed land animals on the planet. With billions (yes, with a “b”) of chickens spanning the globe, they often suffer in tight, filthy factory farms for egg and meat production.
It's time to face the facts and address the problem head-on.
Chickens are sentient beings
They experience a wide range of emotions and can feel pain. Each chicken on a factory farm has a distinct personality and desires, but factory farms deny everything that comes naturally to these intelligent and sensitive animals.
Every chicken deserves a good life where they can raise their babies and perform natural behaviours like foraging for food, dust-bathing, and roaming freely.
Help us to end factory farming
Join our mission and change the way the world works through people's power. Support our current campaigns to stop animal cruelty and suffering today.
Chickens are sentient beings, meaning they experience a wide range of emotions and can feel pain.