StaceyinLA Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 This is total fluff! And it's about chicks, so those who might think it's stupid to even consider that a chick could have cognitive thinking skills, please don't post anything mean or hateful. This is stemming from a discussion I had last night with some men at our club about animals. Obviously I love animals. I'm not a PETA member, and I eat meat, but I do believe animals deserve to be treated humanely and I cannot stand to see anything suffer. Just so you know the position I'm coming from. So one of the guys is talking about animals being, well, animals, and I told him this story about my chicks. Now, these are about 4 - 5 day old chicks. One caught a large, live bug and was running with it. ALL the other chicks went after her, but one, in particular, didn't stop at just chasing and trying to get the bug from her mouth. That one actually grabbed the little chick by the wing to try and pull her to a stop, or pull her back, to get at the bug. I think that this shows some higher-level thinking (okay, I'm not talking Einstein, but just enough of a process to realize that if you can stop that chick, you can snatch that bug versus just chasing after the bug). The guy says this is instinct. Add to this the story about the parrot that recently saved the child from choking by calling out the words, "Momma, baby," repeatedly until the mom came from the bathroom and found the baby choking. What do YOU say? Any thought processes required here at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ria Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 Not fluff at all. I just read a short excerpt from a book in Discover magazine; it was about a parrot who helped researchers discover that birds do, indeed, have significant cognitive thinking skills. Fascinating read. So yes, I'd be willing to bet on the thinking side rather than just instinct. Ria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 (edited) About the chick...doesn't surprise me at all. Did the chick get the bug in the end, though? What I mean is, the fray might have begun over the bug but it (the grabber) might not have been after the bug in actuality. There is a pecking order behavior amongst chickens and the aggressor just may have been joining in the group behavior. I was just wondering. Things are not always as they seem. Is it possible you were projecting that motive? That's not to say that animals don't have a certain intelligence within their breed. P.S. About the parrot...My neighbor's parrot called to it's owner when their dog (Help! dog!) was trying to attack it. Also in a documentary, I saw a parrot who was taught the words for actual fruit (banana and cherry) and refuse the name apple for an apple...it insisted on calling it banerry. Red on the outside (like a cherry) and white (like a banana) on the inside. The bird was forming his own unique vocabulary (based on his personal observation of the qualities of that fruit?). These birds are highly intelligent. Geo Edited March 28, 2009 by Geo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 Not fluff at all. I just read a short excerpt from a book in Discover magazine; it was about a parrot who helped researchers discover that birds do, indeed, have significant cognitive thinking skills. Fascinating read. So yes, I'd be willing to bet on the thinking side rather than just instinct. Ria :iagree: I'm in the camp that believes animals can and do think for themselves, at much higher levels than humans give them credit for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammy Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 but chickens are STUPID, LOLOLOL! I say it is definitely instinct! Although I will admit to really liking my chickens, LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StaceyinLA Posted March 30, 2009 Author Share Posted March 30, 2009 Have you ever watched a hen raise chicks? I think it's so cool how they teach them all those things and fuss at them when they go places they shouldn't. I don't know... To me, watching animals raise their young is just such a neat reminder of what protective instincts they have (and some stuff has to be certain intelligence levels too). Sad to say but there are many animals that protect and care for their young MUCH better than some humans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katemary63 Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 (edited) but chickens are STUPID, LOLOLOL! I say it is definitely instinct! Although I will admit to really liking my chickens, LOL! :iagree:Chickens are unbelieveably stupid in MHO. I hate them! LOL Now DUCKS! THEY are smart! :lol::lol: ( ongoing good natured fued on our farm about which are better, chicken or ducks. Hubby loves chickens, mama loves her ducks!) Edited March 30, 2009 by katemary63 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
love2read Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 It's just operant and classical conditioning with lower animals. Skinner and Pavlov if you are interested in reading up on it, but it's not rational thinking that drives their behavior. It's instinct or stimulus-response connections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommyJo Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 I believe that some animals are a little "smarter" than others. Fish, of course, seem to be basically instinct animals but I believe time and time again animals such as chimps have proven how much like humans they can be. I think it shows some extra thinking skills about chicks. I mean science have proven that some animals communicate with their herd or whatever and I believe that in it's own shows they have to be semi-thinking. Communication is a learned activity, it's not our instinct at birth to say I love you mommy it comes after years of being in a loving environment. Hope this makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon H in IL Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 I'd vote instinctual. I'll always remember the farmer quoted in a book I once read who said there wasn't much difference in IQ between a live sheep and a dead one. :lol::lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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