Chickens

Fun Facts About Chickens

• The world record for the most eggs laid by a single hen in one year is 371. It was set by a White Leghorn hen in 1979. For comparison, the average hen can lay about 250–300 eggs per year.
• Chickens possess excellent long-term memories. They can remember over 100 different individual chickens and human faces, even those they have not seen in years.
• The closest living relative to the Tyrannosaurus rex is the chicken. Generally speaking, birds are not just related to dinosaurs, but are direct descendants of them.
• Chickens have full-color vision, seeing red, green and blue, just like humans. But they also see ultraviolet light, which humans cannot. In addition, chickens hear better than humans, and are able to distinguish between many subtle sounds.
• There are more chickens than any other bird species. At any given time, there are roughly 25–33 billion (or about 3–4 chickens per person).
• Chickens are poor flyers, so it's not surprising the longest recorded flight was just 13 seconds over the distance of 300 feet. But they are surprisingly fast for their size, reaching speeds up to 9 miles per hour in short bursts.
• Chickens demonstrate self-control in experiments, like waiting longer for a bigger food reward instead of taking a smaller one immediately.
• Research indicates that chickens experience REM sleep. This strongly suggests they dream, perhaps about daily activities like foraging or dust bathing.