- Hens
- Roosters
- Roosters have an ill-deserved reputation for being unalterably mean. But roosters are often friendly with each other, and may form lifetime bonds. Roosters under normal circumstances will assert themselves to establish order and a hierarchy, but not for no reason at all, and the altercations tend to be brief and bloodless, with no lasting trauma. Things are back to normal in no time. Roosters have no desire to needlessly harm themselves or other birds.
On sanctuaries, where roosters are treated with kindness and respect, their personalities range from aloof to ingratiating. Some even like to be held and petted. Of course they may go after you to protect their flock; they're just doing their job. Let them; admire their committment and courage. Think like a rooster, back off a bit, and everything is fine—no hard feelings.
- The Eastern Shore Sanctuary and Education Center has some roosters who exemplify the personalities, emotions, resiliency of these paternal birds:
Chumbawumba likes to hang out with the ducks, and vice versa. They even nap together. So much for birds of a feather!
Felipe was trained as a cockfighter but rescued from that violent world. When he first arrived at the sanctuary, he couldn't control his aggression. After some re-training, Felipe, you might say, got in touch with his inner rooster, which had been suppressed by men who wanted him to be mean, not nice; now he gets along fine with hens and other roosters and has befriended a rooster who was a loner before he met Felipe.
Cockfighting corrupts and ruins the lives of roosters, squeezing out their richly textured personalities and turning them into habitually aggressive, unsocialized fighting machines. What a horrible existence—completely human-imposed. Thank goodness it looks like this cruel domination of helpless animals will soon be illegal (though unfortunately not abolished) in every state in the U.S.
- In the wild, roosters communicate with other by sound since the dense foliage often blocks line of sight. Roosters use a locator call to let others know their position. When a rooster spots a predator, he issues a danger call, and other roosters within earshot spread the warning. Once the threat has passed, each of the roosters, as they see fit, give the "all clear" signal.
- Roosters have an ill-deserved reputation for being unalterably mean. But roosters are often friendly with each other, and may form lifetime bonds. Roosters under normal circumstances will assert themselves to establish order and a hierarchy, but not for no reason at all, and the altercations tend to be brief and bloodless, with no lasting trauma. Things are back to normal in no time. Roosters have no desire to needlessly harm themselves or other birds.
- Chicken Intelligence
- "Contrary to what one may hear from the industry, chickens are not mindless, simple automata but are complex behaviorally, do quite well in learning, show a rich social organization, and have a diverse repertoire of calls. Anyone who has kept barnyard chickens also recognizes their significant differences in personality."
--Dr. Bernard Rollin, Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University
- "Contrary to what one may hear from the industry, chickens are not mindless, simple automata but are complex behaviorally, do quite well in learning, show a rich social organization, and have a diverse repertoire of calls. Anyone who has kept barnyard chickens also recognizes their significant differences in personality."
Chickens are remarkably intelligent. In certain skills, they are on a par with primates. Newborn chicks display some abstract thinking that human infants don't acquire until months later. Recently, avian scientists have determined that they have to significantly revamp and upgrade their view of chickens. Chickens are quite emotional, too, as you'll see from some of the stories in this section.
If we let chickens do what they naturally do, what they want to do, if we leave them alone, or at least interact with them strictly as friends and admirers, with respect and kindness and an open mind, we may be amazed at these marvelous, yet little known and widely abused creatures