Can chickens feel emotion?

Yes. Chickens show empathy, frustration, and mourning behaviors, especially mother hens with their chicks.

Yes. Chickens experience REM sleep and unihemispheric slow-wave sleep, allowing them to stay alert while resting.

Why do some chickens lay white eggs and others brown?

Genetics primarily determines egg color.

Are chickens really related to the dinosaurs?

Yes. Chickens share significant DNA with Tyrannosaurus rex, making them its closest living relatives.

Can chickens learn and count?

Chickens learn from each other, remember over 100 faces, and demonstrate advanced intelligence.

23 Amazing Chicken Facts (Backed by Science)

By Karin Lehnardt, Senior Writer

Published October 17, 2022Updated November 26, 2025

Chickens are far more intelligent, complex, and social than most people realize. These chicken facts reveal surprising details about their behavior, biology, evolution, and communication. It's no surprise that scientists study them so closely.

About Chickens
Chickens (gallus gallus domesticus) are domesticated birds that have been raised for food, eggs, and companionship for thousands of years. Highly social and intelligent, they display complex behaviors such as communication through multiple vocalizations, problem solving, and the ability to remember faces. chickens are the most abundant and economically important animals on Earth, with over 26 billion chickens on Earth. They are critical in agriculture, science, and world culture, which makes them fascinating to study for both experts and enthusiasts alike._[3]

Chickens can recognize faces, solve simple problems, and learn from one another with surprising intelligence

Chicken Intelligence & Behavior

Chickens can recognize human faces
They remember individual people and flock mates, and they can even associate people with positive and negative experiences._[5]
Chickens can count and do simple math
Chickens can count up to five or more. This shows an astonishing sense of numerical awareness and intelligence that was thought to be limited to mammals._[3]
Chickens experience REM sleep and dream
Along with humans and other mammals, chickens experience REM sleep. They also have another phase of sleep that humans don't have, known as USWS, or unihemispheric slow-wave sleep. This allows them to sleep with one eye open to watch for predators._[2]
Chickens learn by observing each other
Chickens can observe and copy behaviors from flock members, such as ways to avoid hazards, pecking techniques, and other social learning. This helps flocks adapt more quickly to new environments._[9]
Chickens communicate with over 30 vocalizations
These include calls that convey nesting cues, social signals, food discoveries, and warnings. Hens even start softly clucking to their chicks while they are still in the egg, which imprints their voices._[2]
Chickens, especially hens, show complex emotions
Chickens show empathy, frustration, and even affection. They also exhibit signs of mourning and depression when another chicken in the flock dies. Mother hens especially experience stress when their chicks are stressed or injured._[2]

Chickens develop relationships and have preferred companions they spend time with

Chickens have distinct, individual personalities
Individual chickens can be curious, social, aggressive, or friendly. The leader of the flock can often influence the overall mood of other hens._[2]
Chickens form complex social hierarchies known as pecking orders.
Known as the "pecking order," this hierarchy determines access to food, mates, and shelter._[5]

Answers: 1) B: Fear of chickens 2) C: White earlobes 3) C: 100 4) C: Unihemispheric slow-wave sleep

Chickens purr when content
When a chicken is happy and feels safe, it will often "purr." Also called "trilling," the sound is a repetitive and low verbalization. Chickens often purr when they are nesting, dust-bathing, or resting near flock mates or people they are familiar with._[11]
Chicken Biology & Physical Traits

Chickens have near 300-degree vision
With monocular eyesight, chickens can see almost all around them, which helps them spot predators from any angle._[2]
Chickens can see colors better than humans can
Chicken eyes have a mosaic of interwoven receptors in their eyes. This extra sensitivity to light may help chickens find a mate or find colorful berries and fruit._[8]
Egg color is not always indicated by earlobe color
Usually, chickens with white earlobes lay eggs with white shells. Chickens with red earlobes lay eggs with brown shells. However, some breeds don't follow this rule, suggesting that it's a helpful guideline and not an absolute rule._[7]
"Beak Beating" helps chickens eat
When a chicken picks up a piece of food and rubs it on the ground to break off small pieces, it's called "beak beating," which makes food easier to swallow._[5]
Hens choose roosters based on comb and wattle appearance
A bright, red large comb and wattle signal good health and genetic fitness, which make a rooster more appealing to hens._[2]
Hens can reject sperm from inferior roosters
After mating with several males, hens can eject the sperm of inferior roosters, increasing the chances of a healthier offspring._[2]
Light triggers egg-laying
Hens need 14–16 hours of light per day to lay eggs. They usually lay eggs between 7:00 am and 11:00 am._[10]
Chicken Origins, Evolution, and Global Impact

Modern chickens descended from the red jungle fowl
Modern domesticated chickens descended from the red jungle fowl of Southeast Asia about 8,000 years ago for food, ritual, and fighting purposes._[6]

Birds as a group are the closest living relative to dinosaurs

Chickens are the closest living relatives of dinosaurs like T.rex
Genetic studies show that all birds, especially chickens, share DNA with Tyrannosaurus rex, which makes them the dinosaur's closest living relative._[2]
There are more chickens than humans on earth
There are more chickens than people worldwide, making them one of the most abundant and economically important animals on Earth. There are about 26 billion chickens in the world._[2]
Unusual and Rare Chicken Facts

Alektorophobia is the fear of chickens
It is from the Greek words alektor (cock) and phobos (fear). People with alektorophobia may feel intense anxiety around live chickens or even images of chickens._[4]
An Israeli geneticist created a ready-to-eat chicken
He created a featherless chicken by crossing a naturally bare-necked chicken with a regular broiler chicken. Scientists note that the new chicken is lower in calories, environmentally friendly, easier to process, and faster growing._[1]
Why Chickens Are More Fascinating Than Most People Realize
Whether they are counting, dreaming, recognizing faces, or forming life-long friendships, chickens are far more complex and remarkable than their reputation suggests. These facts highlight just how emotional, intelligent, and evolutionary significant these birds truly are._[3]