You must know some smart bugs. Birds tend to be surprisingly bright for their brain capacity.
"Research has shown that chickens have some sense of numbers. Experiments with newly hatched domestic chicks showed they can discriminate between quantities. They also have an idea about ordinality, which refers to the ability to place quantities in a series. Five-day-old domestic chicks presented with two sets of objects of different quantities disappearing behind two screens were able to successfully track which one hid the larger number by apparently performing simple arithmetic in the form of addition and subtraction.
Chickens are also able to remember the trajectory of a hidden ball for up to 180 seconds if they see the ball moving and up to one minute if the displacement of the ball is invisible to them. Their performance is similar to that of most primates under similar conditions.
The birds possess self-control when it comes to holding out for a better food reward. They are able to self-assess their position in the pecking order. These two characteristics are indicative of self-awareness.
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.
Chickens perceive time intervals and can anticipate future events. Like many other animals, they demonstrate their cognitive complexity when placed in social situations requiring them to solve problems.
The birds are able to experience a range of complex negative and positive emotions, including fear, anticipation and anxiety. They make decisions based on what is best for them. They also possess a simple form of empathy called emotional contagion. Not only do individual chickens have distinct personalities, but mother hens also show a range of individual maternal personality traits which appear to affect the behavior of their chicks. The birds can deceive one another, and they watch and learn from each other."
Not the OP, and I disagree with their assertion that chickens and bugs are of similar intelligence, but there ARE some very intelligent spiders. (which I know aren't technically "bugs")
>Besides having the capacity to make plans, act on the basis of object permanence, represent specific goals and solve novel problems, Portia often has to confront more than one other spider at the same time. [0]
>Our findings suggest that Portia represents 1 and 2 as discrete number categories, but categorizes 3 or more as a single category that we call ‘many’. [1]
We seem to naturally have a strong tendency to disregard the intelligence and emotional lives of animals. (which if you think about it, was probably strongly selected for at some point in the past)
“We seem to naturally have a strong tendency to disregard the intelligence and emotional lives of animals. “
It makes ethics much simpler if you deny that an animal can suffer.
To a degree this also happens on conflicts between humans. It’s much easier to kill others if you deny that they may have reasons for doing what they are doing but instead just call them mindless fanatics that can’t be helped.
I think the OP's comment is just right. Some "bugs" (spiders are "bugs" but they are not insects) have surprisingly complex behavior, and chickens can be surprisingly stupid for animals with actual brains. For instance, they will stay in their coop and drown in a flood, even if they can easily jump over its fence to evade you in other times. It's really incomprehensible.
Sure, I was speaking hyperbole. But the differences between chicken awareness and higher mammals is profound. Blurring that is just anthropomorphizing chickens.
The critique of anthropomorphisis, doesn't really make a hell of a lot of sense, if you are comparing chickens and higher mammal's relative awareness. And what about it being blurry don't you like? I mean, it is a bit blurry if you start looking for a very smart chicken and a particularly stupid monkey.
You must know some smart bugs. Birds tend to be surprisingly bright for their brain capacity.
"Research has shown that chickens have some sense of numbers. Experiments with newly hatched domestic chicks showed they can discriminate between quantities. They also have an idea about ordinality, which refers to the ability to place quantities in a series. Five-day-old domestic chicks presented with two sets of objects of different quantities disappearing behind two screens were able to successfully track which one hid the larger number by apparently performing simple arithmetic in the form of addition and subtraction.
Chickens are also able to remember the trajectory of a hidden ball for up to 180 seconds if they see the ball moving and up to one minute if the displacement of the ball is invisible to them. Their performance is similar to that of most primates under similar conditions.
The birds possess self-control when it comes to holding out for a better food reward. They are able to self-assess their position in the pecking order. These two characteristics are indicative of self-awareness.
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.
Chickens perceive time intervals and can anticipate future events. Like many other animals, they demonstrate their cognitive complexity when placed in social situations requiring them to solve problems.
The birds are able to experience a range of complex negative and positive emotions, including fear, anticipation and anxiety. They make decisions based on what is best for them. They also possess a simple form of empathy called emotional contagion. Not only do individual chickens have distinct personalities, but mother hens also show a range of individual maternal personality traits which appear to affect the behavior of their chicks. The birds can deceive one another, and they watch and learn from each other."
https://www.springer.com/gp/about-springer/media/research-ne...