Do Chickens Have Friends—And Do They Like Humans?

But animals raised on farms are often seen as little more than machines, producing food for our supermarkets and farm stands. One of the most overlooked animals are chickens, viewed by many as stupid. But in truth, chickens are inquisitive, social creatures who can become attached to each other and to humans. Chickens have friends and can even get along with other species, such as ducks and rabbits.

Have you ever wondered how happy chickens can actually be, and how they show affection to each other and to humans? Chickens raised as companions behave differently from those trapped inside factory farms.

Do chickens show affection to one another?

The first thing many people may think of related to social relationships between chickens is the “pecking order”. But their interactions are much richer than merely trying to maintain their position in the flock.

How chickens show affection

Chickens can form friendships and might even have best friends within the flock. Chickens who have a very close bond may groom each other using their beaks and share their food, indicating their mutual trust and affection.

Chickens will dust bathe and sunbathe most days, and this is usually as a group activity. They might choose to do this with specific chickens in the flock with whom they are particularly close. Roosting together can also be a sign of affection as specific chickens will regularly snuggle up to each other.

How chickens accept one another

When a new chicken joins an existing flock, this is where the pecking order comes into play. Flocks will establish a stable social hierarchy that allows the birds to live peacefully together. The new chicken won’t be easily accepted into this situation. In fact, if you have adopted chickens, it’s not recommended to introduce a single new bird into the group, or she will be bullied by the other hens. Instead, it’s better to go for safety in numbers, introducing a group of hens to another group, to make it easier for them to integrate. Birds who are similar in size and in the amount of feathers they have will also be more readily accepted by an established group. Giving them as much space as possible, with some initial separation by barriers, as well as plenty of food, water, and nesting boxes will help to prevent fighting over resources.

How chickens bond with humans

Anyone who has kept chickens as companions knows they can be very endearing and affectionate with humans. And they sure have some cute ways of showing it, such as:

• Following: Some people find their chickens will follow them everywhere. This is often because they expect to be fed, but some people who have companion chickens say they aren’t always begging for food, and that it’s a sign of affection or curiosity.
• Grooming: Just as chickens will groom their closest friends, they may also try to groom humans they are particularly fond of. They may do this by gently pecking at you, or dragging their beaks through your hair.
• They let you pick them up: Chickens won’t typically want to be picked up by humans unless they feel comfortable and safe. It takes time to build that bond, but once you do, they may even run to you to get picked up when you appear.
• Noises: Chickens are skilled communicators, with at least 24 sounds in their repertoire. They might give a “scream” to get your attention, or if they’re sitting in your lap or being groomed, they may make low murmuring sounds, like a purr! This is a clear sign of chicken contentment.
• Sitting on you, or with you: Yes, chickens like to hang out with their favorite humans. They might just want to sit next to you, but some may plop themselves right in your lap quite happily.

Are chickens sentient?

Being sentient means you can experience physical and emotional feelings such as pain, pleasure, joy, and grief. Chickens, like other animals, are clearly sentient. But beyond that, evidence shows chicken are sensitive, intelligent, and socially complex. They can do basic math, use basic reasoning, learn from each other, form preferences, as well as experience some of the same emotions as humans.

How can you tell if your chickens are happy?

Happy chickens will behave in natural chicken ways, such as dustbathing, making friends with other chickens, pecking at the ground, being curious, and making sounds like murmuring and gentle clucking.

How to make chickens happy

The coop

The coop provides shelter and safety for your feathered friends. It protects them from bad weather and predators, and should contain nesting boxes and perches so they have somewhere safe to lay their eggs and sleep. A good coop is spacious, clean, well-ventilated, and secure.

Green space

Chickens enjoy foraging, pecking, and scratching around in the grass and soil, so it’s essential that they can easily access green space when they like. This helps keep their curious minds engaged, and gives them the chance to exercise and dust bathe. They should be let out of their coop when it starts to get light.

Appropriate water and food ratios

A chicken needs to drink about half a quart of water a day, and the water should always be fresh and clean. Chickens al so need food that is appropriate for their age and breed, and an insoluble grit to help them digest. While feeding chickens table scraps is considered a fine practice in the US, other countries such as the UK have outlawed feeding chickens your kitchen leftovers, even if your household is entirely vegan.

Enrichment

Chickens are smart birds who need mental stimulation to keep them happy. Dog guardians will be familiar with using food and treats as a way to keep their dogs busy, such as hiding food for them to find, using puzzle toys, and giving them something to chew or lick. These tactics work for chickens too. Except they peck instead of lick or chew!

Exploring their environment is also a form of enrichment, which is why they need access to lots of green space. Interacting with each other and with humans they like will also help to keep them entertained and stimulated.

Not too many roosters

It’s important to have a proper hen-to-rooster ratio, with about 10-12 hens per rooster being ideal. Too many roosters can lead to fighting and making too many attempts to mate with the hens, which they won’t like and can result in physical injuries.

How to handle chickens

It’s important for anyone who keeps companion chickens to be able to handle them, as they need to be checked regularly to make sure they’re healthy. But you’ve got to work your way up to gaining their trust before handling. Here’s how.

• Building trust: If a chicken doesn’t know you, they’re unlikely to want you to pick them up right away, and will probably try to get away from you if you do. You can build trust by spending time with them, feeding them, and giving them treats. You should let them come to you and make sure your voice and movements are quiet and calm to avoid startling them.
• Restraining the wings: When you do get around to picking up your chickens, you’ll need to place one hand on her back to gently pin her wings to her sides. With the other hand, secure her legs.
• Picking up: Lift her gently off the ground and hold her firmly against your body.

Are chickens happier with other chickens?

Chickens are highly social and need other chickens around to be happy. There should be a minimum of three hens in a flock so they can have company for their daily activities, including roosting together.

Do chickens form bonds with other chickens?

They certainly do. They can even feel grief if one of their friends dies. Signs that a chicken is mourning a loss include loss of appetite and not engaging in normal activities. As these can also be signs of illness, it’s important for chicken guardians to rule out any health problems if their chickens seem sad.

Do hens bond with their chicks?

Did you know that mother hens communicate with their baby chicks while they’re still in the egg? Just like a human mother might talk to her baby while she’s pregnant, hens chatter to their unhatched chicks, often with quiet clucking or purring sounds. While the exact scientific reasons for these sounds are unknown, it’s suspected that it helps the chick to get used to the sound of their mother’s voice. In the final stages of incubation, the chick inside the egg will even start responding to their mother by peeping back!

Unfortunately, factory farms do not allow any opportunity for these beautiful bonds to form between mothers and their chicks. Millions of hens in the US are kept in cages where they can barely move, and where they must lay over 300 eggs per year. These eggs are then taken away to be sold or hatched. Any of the hatched chicks who are males (and therefore useless to the egg industry) are killed shortly after being born.

The bottom line

Chickens can make friends and form particularly close bonds with both other chickens and humans. Sadly, most of the world’s chickens don’t get to enjoy these connections, or experience much joy during their lives suffering on factory farms.

Globally more than 70 billion chickens are killed for their meat every year, with 8.3 billion hens forced to lay eggs for human consumption. Most chickens are raised on factory farms, and many laying hens are still kept crammed into cages, even in the US. Instead of getting to express their personalities and form bonds with each other, these conditions cause stress for the birds, so much so that they will often peck and injure each other.

They deserve so much more than what they get on factory farms.