Chickens smarter than toddlers

breaking news

from: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/the-intelligent-hen8217-...

IT IS easy to dismiss them as bird brains, but chickens may be cleverer than toddlers.

Studies show that chicks can master skills including numeracy and self-control – and even basic structural engineering.

Typically, it takes children until the age of four to accomplish some of these feats.

Christine Nicol, the Bristol University professor of animal welfare who reviewed 20 years of research on the topic, said it was wrong to think of chickens as being stupid. Instead, the birds have ‘many hidden depths’.

Chickens exhibit intelligent behaviour within just a few hours of hatching, Professor Nicol says.

Newly born chicks are able to keep track of numbers up to five. When given a choice between two groups of plastic eggs, they almost invariably choose the bigger one, even when the decision was between two eggs or three.

They even chose the larger number after researchers tried to trick them by moving eggs from one group to another.

In her review paper, The Intelligent Hen, Professor Nicol said the birds seemed to be born with an understanding of physics – particularly structural engineering. This is demonstrated by experiments in which newly hatched chicks were shown two diagrams of a cube – only one of which was accurate. The chicks showed more interest in the accurate diagram.

Experiments show that young chicks understand that an object that moves out of sight still exists. In contrast, it takes babies until around a year old to grasp the concept that out of sight does not mean out of mind.

Chickens also exhibit self-control in experiments. For instance, they quickly learnt that if they waited longer to start eating food, they would be allowed access to it for longer.

In one study, 93 per cent of the hens showed self-control in this way. Children typically wouldn’t show this until they turn four.

Professor Nicol, whose review was commissioned by free-range egg firm The Happy Egg Co, said that “Chickens have the capacity to master skills and develop abilities that a human child can take months and years to accomplish.”
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chickens vs shad… you decide?