News Math

Chicks do arithmetic

Recently hatched fowls appear to add and subtract

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

Count your chickens after they hatch, and they may do a little arithmetic themselves.

BEHIND SCREEN NO. 1 A chick stands amid orange plastic balls and screens used as tools in a simple test that revealed it has a sense for numbers. Rugani et al.

Chicks only 3 or 4 days old manage an animal version of adding and subtracting, says Rosa Rugani of the University of Trento Center for Mind/Brain Sciences in Rovereto, Italy.