Who Is Afraid of Chickens?

Difficult as it might be to believe, some people are afraid of chickens. Alektorophobia is the medical term for this condition. The word derives from the Greek words alektor, meaning rooster, and phobos, meaning fear.

Causes of Alektorophobia

Fear of chickens is an anxiety disorder, usually triggered by some unpleasant or traumatic incident that happened in the past. Often, but not necessarily, the incident occurs during childhood. The person might not even remember the incident, especially if it occurred to them as a toddler.

One potential cause is having experienced attack by a rooster. Or even just thinking the rooster is about to attack. Sometimes the person perceives chickens are giving chase, even if the flock is merely hoping for something tasty to eat.

Or sufferers might never have personally had an unpleasant encounter with a chicken. For example, they might simply dream about a chicken attack. Or they might learn the fear behavior from a parent or other close relative who is afraid of chickens.

At any rate, the result is an irrational reaction to chickens. Usually, but not always, alektorophobia involves living chickens, not those on the dinner table. Indeed, some people who are afraid of live chickens get revenge pleasure from eating them.

Fear of chickens often increases over time. That’s because the conscious effort to avoid chickens reinforces the idea that chickens are scary, thus increasing the fear.

Symptoms of Alektorophobia

A person with alektorophobia usually understands that the fear is irrational. Nonetheless they have an extreme and uncontrollable reaction, which might be psychological or actually physical.

Sufferers who anticipate a pending encounter with chickens already feel dread. Then, at the sight, or nearness, of a chicken, they might feel uncomfortable or anxious. Or they might break out in a sweat, tremble, or have trouble breathing. Extreme sufferers experience outright panic.

In some cases, seeing a chicken in a photograph or movie can cause panic. Or even just thinking about chickens may trigger a panic attack.

Such people imagine that chickens pose a grave danger. Often they specifically cringe in fear of the chicken’s pointy beak and claw-like feet. The sight, or thought, of these perceived scary weapons results is a spurt of adrenaline that provokes a flight response.

Is Alektorophobia Treatable?

These days chickens are virtually unavoidable except maybe in major cities. But even there you might run across the occasional chicken, or a video, or a photograph of a chicken.

Many people strive to overcome their fear of chickens through gradual exposure, until they come to realize that chickens are unlikely to cause harm. They might start by looking at pictures of chickens. And then, as the way they feel about chickens begins to change, they graduate to seeing or being near live chickens.

On the other hand, an incapacitating phobia can require various therapies and medical interventions. The ultimate goal, of course, is to permanently overcome the unjustifiable fear of chickens.

No one knows exactly how many people are sincerely afraid of chickens. Common belief is that it is a rare phobia.

However, knowing that the phobia is illogical, sufferers may not admit it out of sheer embarrassment. At any rate, being afraid of chickens seems strange to those of us who truly enjoy daily interactions with our backyard chickens.