Chickens are intelligent and social creatures. They prefer to spend their time with their flock, scratching and foraging for tasty treats, dust bathing and snoozing in the sun.
Animal Profile
Lifespan
Chickens can live for up to 12 years.
Eyesight
Chickens have excellent eyesight. They can even use each eye independently as well as together. Can you do that?
Sense of smell
Chickens have a well-developed sense of smell that is similar to a human’s sense of smell.
Feathers
Chickens’ feathers are designed to keep them warm and dry. They can even help camouflage the chicken from predators.
Communication
Chickens have over 24 different types of vocalisations and use visual displays to communicate with one another. Chickens can identify one another just by their calls.
Did you know?
Chickens are thought to have been domesticated 8,000 to 10,000 years ago.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
The egg! Eggs evolved around 320 million years ago. Chickens’ dinosaur ancestors evolved around 230 million years ago. Chickens are descended from dinosaurs and may even be the closest living relatives to the T-rex.
Clever chook
Chickens are intelligent and can remember the faces of more than 100 other chickens. They can even remember those faces after being separated from one another for months.
Did you know?
Due to human exploitation, chickens are now made to lay 250-300 eggs a year; in nature chickens only lay 10-30 a year.
Learn about animals!
