Study suggests chickens are smarter than toddlers
Newly-hatched chickens are capable of skills that it can take human babies months or even years to master, new research has revealed.
The research, undertaken by the University of Bristol, found that chickens had an instinctive physical awareness from hatching. They can keep track of objects that fall out of sight – a skill human babies do not pick up until about 12 months of age – and have an innate preference to objects “that they know make sense”.
They can also exercise greater self-control – a classic test of intelligence – choosing to turn down one reward if there is the prospect of receiving a better one. Chickens are also born with the ability to keep track of numbers up to five, unlike humans, who have to be taught to count, the report says.
Christine Nicol, professor of animal welfare at the University of Bristol, co-authored the review with Robbie L’Anson-Price.
Nicol said it was important for people to recognise there was more to poultry than meets the eye, as well as “the importance of providing these amazing creatures with the environment that enables them to live out their natural instincts. Despite their familiarity, few people think of domesticated chickens as intelligent birds”.
A spokesman for the Happy Egg Co, who sponsered the study said the findings of the report, entitled The Intelligent Hen Study, would inform range and enrichments’ design on its farms.
