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Memories and Mean Chickens

The other cups are empty.

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Even though final results will not be available until , the experiment is beginning to give some indications. I observe the chicken from outside the room, to see if she has learned which cups contain the goodies", says Tahamtani. The short-term memory, or the working memory, of the chickens provides information on what takes place in a short period of time.

We expect that the chickens from aviaries will find out where the food is more quickly than the chickens from cages.

Thinking chickens: a review of cognition, emotion, and behavior in the domestic chicken

This is because they have grown up in a much more complex environment, in which they must make an effort to find food and water", says the researcher. Associate Professor Andrew M. Janczak tells of an early change in the behaviour of the chickens after the experiment began. It was not like that in the beginning. Then the chickens could sit in the corner they were placed in for a long time, and move randomly around the room.

Despite what you might think, chickens are not stupid

Some of the chickens are so fast that I must hurry out to be sure that I manage to survey them", Fernanda Tahamtani smiles. Several of the chickens know exactly where to find the mealworms, and they don't even bother to check the other cups anymore.

Wave (from Chicken Girls) - Brooke Butler - Lyrics

The investigation of the long-term memory concerns information the chickens have acquired over time. The goal of the study is to find out if they have the ability to learn over time, if they have the ability to learn several tasks, and whether being raised in a complex environment has lasting effects on the brain that influence the ability to learn. They have learned that when I come to get them, food is on the way. They know that they must put their heads down into a cup to find the food, and that the food can only be found a few places in the room. None of the chickens spend a lot of time looking in the cups that are empty.

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In other words, they have become more efficient at the task", proclaims Tahamtani. Read the Norwegian version of this article at forskning. Do free-range chickens have better memory than caged chickens? Aug 20, Post 4 of I have also been wondering since a cat killed my flock and only one survived and I was a little worried for the serving hen.

She seemed a little jumpy in the morning and didn't let me hold her. Will she remember what happened to the rest of the flock for a while?

May 12, Post 5 of It's a shame to know that my flock would barely remember, they've had a few jaw-dropping adventures, such as spending a night in another farm, and they'd just forget that it ever happened. May 12, Post 6 of Chickens meemories are great actually. They do remember their own flock memebers. They are very intellgent. Some chickens are even smart enough to be potty trained. May 12, Post 7 of They can reemebr up to a people they have saw,so I know they remeber me.

Chicken Behavior: An Overview of Recent Science

I cone down to the farm every weekend. May 12, Post 8 of May 12, Post 9 of It's not that they 'forget'. They are animals, they don't hold on to the past like people do.


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They get over it and move on with their lives. When you remove a flock member for a few weeks and then reintroduce it, the issues are not caused by the flock forgetting the hen. It's because they have established a new pecking order without her, and chickens take their pecking order very seriously. Rest assured, most chickens are actually quite smart. May 12, Post 10 of You must log in or sign up to reply here.