Factory farming has made us think of chickens as mindless automata. But our downy friends know much more than we give them credit for.

  • nesc@lemmy.cafe
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    4 days ago

    No they aren’t, I’ve seen them kill themselves in the most dumb way for no reason except them being mindless automata. Heard the same about cows. Goats are pretty smart btw.

    Update: instinct-driven is really good description of them

    • Peruvian_Skies@sh.itjust.works
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      4 days ago

      Cows recognize and respond to their given names (and sometimes even nicknames used by specific people) and have best friends. They are very far from stupid. They’re lovely and charming animals. It takes a lot of cognitive dissonance for me to continue eating beef after spending some time at a dairy farm.

      • nesc@lemmy.cafe
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        4 days ago

        I’ve never owned cows, childhood experience taught me that they are pretty dumb, in the sense that they are slow to react on both ends, as in they won’t react to something fast enough, but when they react they are even slower to stop doing shit, especially when stressed. My friend and I had once to stop a calf from strangling itself after she tangled herself in a rope, another time I’ve seen them try to attack a truck after it moved on and they psyched each other for like ten minutes after the fact (good times, lol).