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Chicken
praisers
| As longtime
(and lonely) defenders of chicken intelligence, we have been
justified and validated by the findings of Chris and Linda Evans
in "Breaking the code on chicken clucks" (SN: 8/28/99,
p. 135).
Some years
ago, when our flock had free run of the backyard and it was our
custom to feed our cats on the back porch, the chickens could
distinguish between the food calls we used for chickens and those
we used for cats. When we had chick feed and we called them by
"buck, buck, buck," they would show interest. When we
called the cats for their food with "brrrr," the
chickens were wildly enthusiastic and rushed to the kitchen door.
They love canned cat food.
Perhaps it
is time to dispel the notion of chickens as "chicken,"
excessively timid or fearful.
Paul and Julie Chelminski
Norwalk, Conn. |
| I might
comment that children are the very best researchers for
other-species communication. When my sister and I were small, we
had a friend, a hen we called "Dumpy," who ran with
wings beating to greet us when we returned from school and
escorted us to the house, singing all the way. Yes, we sang with
her. It meant that she (and we) were happy.
Louise Ireland-Frey
Durango, Colo. |
| Anyone with a
small flock of chickens won't be surprised that roosters call hens
to food—only that it hadn't been previously documented. My Rhode
Island red rooster calls "took, took, took" in varying
rhythms and tonal qualities, so I suspect he communicates even
more than, "Here's food."
Edna Weigel
Sierra Vista, Ariz. |
| "Breaking
the code on chicken clucks" took me back to my boyhood, many
years ago, on a farm in Pennsylvania. At that time, each farm had
a flock of chickens.
Oftentimes,
as the mature flock was foraging, a rooster would vigorously
scratch the ground, look intently at the scratched up soil, and in
loud, excited tones exclaim, "Took, took, took, took,
took." Some hens would come running. Usually, the act was a
bluff, and the rooster mounted one of the hens.
Arthur B. Bush
San Carlos, Calif. |
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