us and the chickens

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At Astrid Drapela’s (46) farm near Vienna, 40 chickens live with their families and other animals such as mini pigs, goats, sheep, cats and dogs. It is peaceful coexistence where animals are not used, valued and loved. The teacher’s heart beats especially for chickens. She lives a short life as a shadowy existence in mostly isolated housing estates. At the same time, private poultry is growing rapidly and the surprising characteristics of poultry are coming to light.

“Maybe chickens are the new cats,” says Astrid Drapela. At least some chickens like it that way. “I even know people who put their chickens to bed from time to time to protect them from the dangers of the semi-wildlife on the farm.” As a biologist, Drapela also observes poultry with scientific interest. The biologist has compiled the latest research and animal husbandry information for his book “I Wish I Had a Chicken” – here are a few surprising facts from him.

1. Smart and fast

Chickens learn quickly. This can be seen in popular chicken clicker courses. There, poultry can be taught the greatest tricks with astonishing speed – even playing the piano. But even as a chick, the fowl shows skills that even the human bib has not yet mastered. Newly hatched chicks can count to five and draw some logical conclusions that human children can only do at age seven. Adult chickens show self-control as they know they will be rewarded with more feed later on. In short, chickens are much smarter than you think.

2. Sensitive assets

With this, chickens surprise their human roommates and a relationship develops like a cat or dog. Because chickens have personality and are sensitive creatures. The famous chicken in particular suffers when her chicks are frightened, even if she knows there is no serious danger. A mother hen throws herself into the fight for the baby with all her might. For this reason, mother hens are also feared and left alone in the chicken flock.

3. Pecking Sequence

Because normally a flock of chickens in the backyard has already formed a hierarchy. Writhing is part of the chicken’s nature, even if it sometimes bleeds. As long as nothing changes, the order remains stable and strictly hierarchical: everyone has their place, from the boss to the boss below. If newcomers join, everything needs to be renegotiated: therefore, a change in the group always causes unrest, but after a few days it calms down again. If the group becomes unmanageable, that is, from 40 animals, the chickens are no longer well differentiated from each other and can no longer establish stable relationships.

4. Mobile Stables

Therefore, crowded groups in industrial residences are a constant stressor: Life is like in the squares of a big city. Anonymously and – on the prone – dangerous, because you now have to do the sorting individually in a confined space. From now on, the stronger persecutes the weaker: and this always is. Smaller flocks with sufficient space can be divided into smaller groups. Both can be carried out, for example, in mobile stables. A wheeled barn also has other advantages, especially for areas where chickens graze and fertilize. There must still be places to hide, otherwise the chicken will instinctively feel threatened, just like its wild ancestors.

5. Wild chicken

The main home of our chicken is the forests of Southeast Asia. In dense thickets, wild Bankiva chickens still jump in groups of up to ten animals. They are the size of small roosters, with a dominant rooster ruling the family, other males are allowed to stay on the sidelines of the group. You sleep in your own dormant trees, where the rooster crows in the evening and early morning to mark its territory. Chickens joined humans 3,500 years ago when they learned to grow delicious crops like rice and millet. At that time, she only laid a few eggs, up to ten a year.

6. Refined language

The language of chickens is highly developed. About twenty different sounds have been identified. In a flock of chickens, the alarm call not only indicates “danger”, but also informs the listener about the type, size and distance of approaching predators. For example, if an aerial attack is imminent, the entire herd will take shelter under a safe shelter as they flee from ground predators towards the trees. However, many things remain a mystery: for example, why chickens happily announce a fresh egg laying to those around them.

7. Deafening crowing

The loudness of the crow’s voice is the same as it once evolved in the tropical homeland. With the volume of a jet plane reaching 144 decibels, it also resonates in the local stables, throwing many people out of bed. As deafening as the crowing is, when the rooster’s beak is opened, its ears automatically close, preventing the caller from harming it.

8. Invisible billions

There is one animal that is more common on our planet than all the other pets in the world combined. It is also the most common bird in the world: the domestic fowl. There are four chickens for every human being, about 33 billion in total. But we can see very few of them because in their short life they serve us as suppliers of eggs and meat. In Switzerland alone, a person eats an average of 14 kilos of chicken and 185 eggs per year.

9. Furry personalities

The increasingly popular hobby poultry house is doing better: In Switzerland alone, the number of chicken keepers is estimated at 70,000 and this trend is increasing. Animals are given names so they rise from just farm animals to beloved family members. Because more and more people are realizing that chickens not only have a personality, but also like to interact with us. That’s why kids are often the biggest chicken fans in the family.

10. Animal Assisted Therapy

What can be observed in small poultry farms is now also making a sensation in therapeutic applications: Hyperactive children are relieved when interacting with chickens. Chickens also increase communication between speechless people of all ages. For this reason, poultry therapists are becoming increasingly popular in schools and nursing homes.

Source : Blick