• Question: Do hen have feelings?

    Asked by 587bmay27 to Peter, Jonathan, Grace, Doris, Ann on 4 Jun 2019.
    • Photo: Grace Kago

      Grace Kago answered on 4 Jun 2019:


      I’m not sure if hens have feelings.. I found a paper whose abstract has the following paragraph:

      “Domestic chickens are members of an order, Aves, which has been the focus of a revolution in our understanding of neuroanatomical, cognitive, and social complexity. At least some birds are now known to be on par with many mammals in terms of their level of intelligence, emotional sophistication, and social interaction. Yet, views of chickens have largely remained unrevised by this new evidence. In this paper, I examine the peer-reviewed scientific data on the leading edge of cognition, emotions, personality, and sociality in chickens, exploring such areas as self-awareness, cognitive bias, social learning and self-control, and comparing their abilities in these areas with other birds and other vertebrates, particularly mammals. My overall conclusion is that chickens are just as cognitively, emotionally and socially complex as most other birds and mammals in many areas, and that there is a need for further noninvasive comparative behavioral research with chickens as well as a re-framing of current views about their intelligence”

      Marino, Lori. “Thinking chickens: a review of cognition, emotion, and behavior in the domestic chicken.” Animal Cognition 20.2 (2017): 127-147.

    • Photo: Peter Macharia

      Peter Macharia answered on 4 Jun 2019:


      @587bmay27

      I think they do, that’s why a cock will be jealous and fight another one… just because of competition (I have seen this happen) 🙂

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