Do Goats Eat Chickens?
Many of us who keep goats and chickens together in the same facility have certain issues to deal with. One is that a frisky goat might step on or head-butt a chicken, especially a young one. Another is that, given...
Tagged: chickens
Here’s How Chickens Watch for Predators
Compared to a human, a chicken’s eyes are about 25 times bigger relative to the size of its head. The chicken’s eyes don’t look so large because they’re partly hidden behind flesh and feathers. But those big eyeballs take up...
Active Immunity Protects a Chick from Diseases
Unlike humans, chickens do not have a system of organized lymph nodes to protect them from bacteria, viruses, and other disease-causing microbes. Instead they have several lymphoid organs that work together to gradually develop active immunity that protects the chick...
Providing Perches Inside a Chicken Coop
Chickens feel safer when they roost off the ground, particularly while they sleep at night. Providing perches inside a chicken coop reduces the temptation that they will sleep unsafely outdoors in a tree or along a fence top. Perches are...
Can Chickens Get Coronavirus?
While chickens can get coronaviruses, the same viruses do not infect humans. Further, we have no evidence that chickens can get the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. What is a Coronavirus? Viruses are tiny pathogens, so small that millions can travel...
Could a Newt Kill a Chicken?
Every now and then I run across a newt, either wandering in the backyard or curled up in some corner of the garden. Here in Tennessee I’m always delighted to spot a bright orange Eastern newt. It never occurred to...
Humanimal — Ways Animals Are Like Humans
Search the web for the word Humanimal and you will find links describing all sorts of things. Some of them are: a video game, a hard rock band, several music albums, a horror movie, and a documentary. Also: a British...
Do Chickens Mean What They Say?
Animal behaviorists all agree that the various sounds chickens make have meaning. But they disagree on how to interpret the meaning. Some believe chickens speak a language, similar to human language. Others question whether chickens mean what they say. They...
Do Chickens Speak a Language?
Chickens make a lot of different sounds, and every one of them means something, at least to another chicken. But do chickens speak a language? Do they convey information in the same way humans do with words? Do chickens, like...
How We Know What Chickens Are Saying
Why do you suppose we humans believe we know what chickens are saying when they make certain sounds? It’s because humans convey emotion using the same system of vocalizing as chickens. The structure of any sound a chicken makes, or...