72 Reasons to Be Vegan: Why Plant-Based. Why Now. by Gene Stone & Kathy Freston

Author:Gene Stone & Kathy Freston
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Workman Publishing Co.
Published: 2021-03-30T00:00:00+00:00

42

Chickens Like to Be Cuddled

Many people say, “I don’t eat meat—just chicken.” Say what?

Eating chicken is eating meat. It is the body of a dead animal. That’s that.

But then they might say, “Well, chickens don’t matter. They’re not sentient beings. They can’t feel pain.”

Actually, they can. Just as scientists have been uncovering how remarkable pigs are, they’ve found chickens are pretty cool, too. Studies performed at the University of Padua, Italy, have shown that chickens can count; they can solve basic arithmetic problems, just like any school child. According to a study from the UK’s University of Bristol, they show remarkable empathy toward each other.73 They are very social animals and fully understand where they stand in their literal pecking order. And according to a study published in Animal Cognition in 2017, they can also “reason by deduction—an ability that humans develop by the age of seven.” For example, newly hatched chicks presented with two sets of objects of varying amounts hidden behind two screens were able to perform simple mental arithmetic and determine which screen hid the larger amount.74

According to that same 2017 study, “Chicken communication is also quite complex, and consists of a large repertoire of different visual displays and at least 24 distinct vocalizations. The birds possess the complex ability of referential communication, which involves signals such as calls, displays and whistles to convey information. They may use this to sound the alarm when there is danger, for instance. This ability requires some level of self-awareness and being able to take the perspective of another animal, and is also possessed by highly intelligent and social species, including primates.”

Like pigs and humans, chickens have very distinct personalities—some are fun-loving, some are arrogant, some are weird. By the way, you, human that you are, may think all chickens look alike, but not so to chickens; they can remember up to a hundred other chickens, even after considerable time has passed.

And yes, unlike most birds, chickens like being cuddled by humans—certainly more than they like to be killed by them. In the United States alone, we slaughter nine billion chickens per year.

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