Ivana was rescued out of a backyard hoarding situation in Baltimore, MD in July 2012 along with 8 other hens.
Chickens Used for Eggs
Chickens used for egg production are among the most abused of all farm animals. In order to meet the consumer demand for eggs, 280 million hens laid 77.3 billion eggs in 2007. From hatching to slaughter, egg-laying hens are subjected to mutilation, confinement, and deprivation of the ability to live their lives as the active, social beings they are.
Chickens used for egg production are among the most abused of all farm animals. In order to meet the consumer demand for eggs, 280 million hens laid 77.3 billion eggs in 2007. From hatching to slaughter, egg-laying hens are subjected to mutilation, confinement, and deprivation of the ability to live their lives as the active, social beings they are.
Every year, 9 billion chickens are slaughtered for meat in the United States. Called “broilers” by the industry, these curious, social birds are treated simply as production units, selectively bred and fed for abnormally fast growth without consideration for their well-being. The resulting large size contributes significantly to suffering, disease, and early death.
Who They Really Are
Chickens are intelligent animals, outperforming dogs and cats on many tests of advanced cognition. As just one example, in a study by the Silsoe Research Institute in England, researchers showed that chickens have the ability to make a conscious choice to delay gratification. In this study, the chickens figured out that if they refuse some food now, they will get more food later. Discovery Magazine explained the importance of the study this way: “Chickens do not just live in the present but can anticipate the future…something previously attributed only to humans and other primates…”²
Chickens are intelligent animals, outperforming dogs and cats on many tests of advanced cognition. As just one example, in a study by the Silsoe Research Institute in England, researchers showed that chickens have the ability to make a conscious choice to delay gratification. In this study, the chickens figured out that if they refuse some food now, they will get more food later. Discovery Magazine explained the importance of the study this way: “Chickens do not just live in the present but can anticipate the future…something previously attributed only to humans and other primates…”²
Like humans and other primates, chickens are also socially complex, forming well-ordered communities and learning from one another in sophisticated ways. Scientists from Macquarie University in Australia won the Australian Museum Eureka Prize for research in which they showed that chickens are “social, intelligent creatures complete with Machiavellian tendencies to adjust what they say according to who is listening…chickens can share remarkably precise information about the presence of predators and the discovery of food.”³ As Macquarie scientist Chris Evans explains, “As a trick at conferences, I sometimes list these attributes, without mentioning chickens, and people think I’m talking about monkeys.”4
And, as The New York Times reports, “Perhaps most persuasive is the chicken’s intriguing ability to understand that an object, when taken away and hidden, nevertheless continues to exist.” Explains Amy Hatkoff in The Inner World of Farm Animals, discussing research by Dr. Giorgio Vallortigara and Dr. Lucia Regolin: “[C]hickens have complex cognition and can grasp abstract concepts,” including an ability to recognize “a whole object even when it is partly hidden…a capacity it was thought only humans possessed.”5
