Chickens ( Archived) (51)

I grew up on a farm, and worked on ranches and dairies in my early youth. If a baby chick is held a lot and hand fed from the day it is hatched, it will become as pet-bonded as parakeets and cockatiels, etc... I have seen chickens and roosters follow a ranch worker around, and not shy away from being touched, petted, and held. They are, however, not as intelligent as other bird species. For example, if there is a fence with exits on either side, and the chicken is near the middle, and you place desired food on the other side, generally the chicken cannot figure out to go around the fence, even though it can. They can be taught to play a simple tune on a zylophone, or ring a bell to release grain into a feed trough.

That's very true about the fence. My chickens when they were young I had to go out every night at dusk and pick them up 1 by 1 and carry them through the gate even though they had been going in & out all day. This went on for over a month. If I left them out all night they would be dead by morning. They think they're safe if they hunker down in the bushes and be quiet but a predator like a Fox or Raccoon would have no trouble sniffing them out.