Chickens don't have a reputation for being the brightest group in the animal kingdom, but a new study has found we may have dramatically underestimated their brainpower.

Researchers found that chickens have distinct personalities, numerical abilities and show self-awareness, among other traits.

Dr Lori Marino, a lecturer in Neuroscience at Emory University and the author of the review, said: 'They (chickens) are perceived as lacking most of the psychological characteristics we recognize in other intelligent animals and are typically thought of as possessing a low level of intelligence compared with other animals.'

Chickens can communicate via at least 24 distinct vocalizations, as well as visual displays

WHAT THEY CAN DO Chickens are capable of self- control and will wait longer for a greater food reward

They know their place in the pecking order based on observing other chickens

They can discriminate between quantities and do simple arithmetic in the form of addition and subtraction

They have time perception skills

They can communicate via at least 24 distinct vocalizations, as well as different visual displays

They experience a range of complex emotions including fear, anticipation and empathy

They have distinct personalities Advertisement





According to Dr. Marino, 'chickens are behaviourally sophisticated, discriminating among individuals, exhibiting Machiavellian-like social interactions, and learning socially in complex ways that are similar to humans.'

In a 2005 study, researchers found that domestic chickens are capable of self-control.

Chickens were given a choice between either a two-second wait followed by access to food for three seconds or a six-second wait followed by access to food for 22 seconds.

The hens waited for the larger 22-second reward, showing their ability to rationally differentiate between different outcomes as well as using self-control to benefit from those outcomes.

Experiments with newly hatched domestic chicks showed they can discriminate between quantities.

They also have an idea about ordinality: The ability to place quantities in a series.

Five-day-old domestic chicks presented with two sets of objects of different quantities disappearing behind two screens were able to successfully track which one hid the larger number by apparently performing simple arithmetic in the form of addition and subtraction.

Laying hens were taught to differentiate three sounds which signaled either a positive event (food reward), a negative event (a squirt from a water gun) or a neutral event (nothing) after a 15 second delay.

The hens showed different emotional responses to the different sounds suggesting that they were able to anticipate a future event.

When hens are placed together for the first time, they set up a dominance hierarchy - a pecking order. Dominant hens will peck at subordinates, jumping on them or clawing them, and subordinates submit by trying to get away or crouching

CHICKENS HAVE TIME PERCEPTION SKILLS AND CAN ANTICIPATE FUTURE EVENTS Researchers conducted an experiment on emotion in chickens, specifically anticipation

Laying hens were taught to discriminate three sounds which signaled either a positive event (food reward), a negative event (a squirt from a water gun) or a neutral event (nothing) after a 15 second delay

The hens showed different emotional responses to the different sounds suggesting that they were able to anticipate a future event Advertisement

Hens know their place in the pecking order based on observing their peers.

When hens are placed together for the first time, they set up a dominance hierarchy - a pecking order.

Dominant hens will peck at subordinates, jumping on them or clawing them, and subordinates submit by trying to get away or crouching.

A 1996 study found that when hens saw a known dominant chicken being defeated by a stranger, they didn't challenge the stranger when confronted.

This means that they understood that if the stranger can defeat a chicken who is dominant over them, then they wouldn't be able to defeat that stranger.

If, on the other hand, they saw a known dominant chicken defeat a stranger, hens attacked the stranger half of the time, because they understood that they had a chance of defeating her.

Chickens can communicate via at least 24 distinct vocalizations, as well as different visual displays.

They use referential communication which involves using signals that convey information, such as calls, displays, whistles and others.

In an experiment where chickens were shown computer animations of their predators, roosters used different alarm calls depending on the type of predator shown.

When they were shown flying predators, they gave one type of alarm call, and when they were shown terrestrial predators, such as raccoons, they gave another distinctive alarm call.

The strongest alarm call they gave was when a fast hawk appeared overhead.

In an experiment where chickens were shown computer animations of their predators, roosters used different alarm calls depending on the type of predator shown

Chickens experience a range of complex emotions including fear, anticipation and empathy.

For example, when chickens are restrained they respond with tonic immobility - staying completely still in a natural state of paralysis.

When experiencing fear, chickens show similar responses to human and other animals, including an increased heart rate and body temperature.

A study on empathy in chickens found that hens respond to their chicks' distress with an increased heart rate, increased body temperature and standing alert and emitting maternal clucking sounds.

Chickens have distinct personalities and mother hens show a range of distinctive maternal personality traits.

In males chickens, there are three personality traits that are associated with dominance: boldness, activity/exploration, and vigilance.