A Chicken Never Forgets... Or Do They?

The Remarkable Memory of Chickens

Author

Blake Dan
August 20, 2023

Good Morning fellow chicken addicts. BFL’s Daily Dozen here.

More and more, I’m feeling like I’m moving from “chicken-obsessed” to “crazy chicken lady status”.

Care to join me?

Here’s what we’ve got for you today:

  • The Remarkable Memory Of Chickens

  • What Chickens Can & Can’t Remember

  • Chicken Breed Of The Week: Welsummer Chickens!

  • Memes To Share Around The Flock

The Remarkable Memory Of Chickens

I’m absolutely baffled at how many people think chickens are dumb creatures.

Of course, anybody who has raised them can quickly tell you just how intelligent and emotionally capable these fluffy-butts really are.

As for their memory, although research has only scratched the surface, it’s clear that:

  1. Chickens learn from association: matching colors, shapes, and experiences with an associated outcome.

    A typical example, when you yell “chiiiickies” and they all come running to you for attention (or treats)

  1. Their memory helps them form the social phenomenon of the pecking order (even in large flocks of 50+ birds).

  1. You can use a chicken’s memory capabilities to actually train your chickens to do more complex tasks than you would think.

    From coming to you when called, to giving hugs, to posing.

What Chickens Can & Can’t Remember

Piecing together what we’ve learned from our research and years (& years) of owning chickens, it’s pretty clear chickens can remember:

  1. Their owners (plus apparently up to 100 different faces)

  2. Every other chicken in their flock (which helps them remember the pecking order)

  3. Their “best friends” in the flock.

  4. Their coop and property (up to about a 100-200 yard radius)

  5. Other pets & animals.

However, there are some things that chickens can’t remember:

  1. To stop using our patio as a toilet!

  2. To stop digging up our gardens!

  3. To lay one egg per day!

All jokes aside, there’s not a lot chickens can’t remember. However, like many animals, their memory will begin to fade after 6 months or longer.

Chicken Breed Of The Week: Welsummer Chickens!

Everyone loves a wonderfully colorful egg. So there’s no wonder everyone loves Easter Eggers, Olive Eggers, and Ameraucanas.

But, one lesser-known, or lesser sought-after egg is the wonderful speckled egg. 

Thought to have originated in a small village in the Netherlands, called Welsum (hence the name), the Welsummer chicken is known to reliably lay beautifully dark brown, terra-cotta colored eggs, and eggs with beautiful speckles all over them (see below).

Not only that, but they are highly intelligent, gentle, great layers (160-200 eggs per year) hardy, and amazingly gorgeous. Everything you want in a backyard chook.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why the Welsummer is the Chicken Of The Week!

Memes To Share Around The Flock

See You Next Week

Thanks for welcoming BFL’s Daily Dozen into your Sunday routine - I hope you’ve learned something or we’ve at least brought a smile to your dial.

With the memory capabilities of your chickens, let’s hope they remember to lay you an egg!

See you next week!

Blake,
BFL’s Daily Dozen