Wait, just how intelligent are chickens and turkeys? I apologize if I sound rude/hostile as I’m quite eager to learn!

turings-deactivated20180627:

no need to apologise at all! i’m happy to talk about this.

from the day they hatch, chickens are capable of distinguishing between a given object and visually similar (though not identical) objects, and they have a sophisticated sense of object permanence. in addition, they’re capable of not only recognising but associating with familiar faces, be they chick or human. though this is all behaviour that likely developed because they’re precocial birds (walking the moment they hatch) who imprint and rely on on their mother and flockmates, it’s still worth noting because it’s all impressive behaviour for an individual that just recently popped out of an egg. 

as adults, chickens have an array of calls and sounds with distinct meanings. they’ve shown to be capable of intentional deception (false predator alerts or calls of food when there is no food), have an impressive memory, are very responsive to training (more so than dogs in my experience), and while it’s not as researched as it should be, chickens are measurably (and rather significantly) empathic animals.

intelligence and cognition in turkeys has been researched even less than that of chickens, but they’re capable of recognising one another based on their voices and feature an impressive array of communicative vocalisations and behaviour. being social birds, they form complex bonds with other turkeys as well as humans, given the opportunity. on the individual scale, they’re often described as “curious” and “inquisitive” by those who work with and take care of them.