There are many interesting internet sites about keeping chickens. We have made a selection of sites that mainly emphasise the beauty of poultry, their intelligence and their specific behaviour.

Over het houden van kippen zijn heel wat sites op het internet te vinden. Wij hebben ons beperkt tot sites waar vooral de schoonheid, de intelligentie en het gedrag van de kip worden benadrukt. 

NB het merendeel van deze sites is in de engelse taal. Voor Nederlandstalige sites klik hier!

Pour les liens français cliquer ici. 

The evolution of birds         
Interesting site on the evolution of birds

T.rex kinship with chickens confirmed
Tyrannosaurus rex, meet the chicken - your third cousin more than 100 million years removed. A new family tree based on protein sequences recovered from dinosaur fossils firms up the dinosaur's avian lineage.

the Dignity, Beauty, and Abuse of Chickens: As Symbols and in Reality
A  random selection of interesting or unusual facts about chickens

Poultry Tips

Behavioral Research of Chickens
A clear overview of their behaviour

Stop – Look – Listen Recognising the Sentience of Farm Animals

Avian psychology and communication
The evolution of animal communication is a complex issue and one that attracts much research and debate. ‘Receiver psychology’ has been highlighted as a potential selective force, and we review how avian psychological processes and biases can influence the evolution and design of signals as well as the progress that has been made in testing these ideas in behavioural studies. Interestingly, although birds are a focal group for experimental psychologists and behavioural ecologists alike, the integration of theoretical ideas from psychology into studies of communication has been relatively slow. However, recent operant experiments are starting to address how birds perceive and respond to complex natural signals in an attempt to answer evolutionary problems in communication. This review outlines how a psychological approach to understanding communication is useful, and we hope that it stimulates further research addressing the role of psychological mechanisms in signal evolution.    

Chickens prefer beautiful humans
In this project Swedish researchers trained chickens to react to an average human female face but not to an average male face (or vice-versa). In a subsequent test, the animals  showed preferences for faces consistent with human sexual preferences (obtained from university students).

Poultry behaviour and better care
Knowing More About Natural Poultry Behavior Can Lead To Better Care 

Behavioural profiles of chickens
Vision, social organisation and dominance hierarchies, sexual behaviour, maternal-offspring behaviour, abnormal behaviour 

Chickens' reaction to men
Study of behaviour of broiler chickens subjected to biotic stressors

Inside the brain of a chicken
A new atlas of the chicken brain by Australian researchers

Chickens worry about the future
The finding, published in the current issue of the journal Animal Behaviour, suggests that domestic fowl (Gallus gallus domesticus) are intelligent creatures that might worry

Minds of Their Own: Birds Gain Respect
Dealing with aggressive poultry
Series of articles on aggression

Baby chicks do basic arithmetic
Scientists from the universities of Padova and Trento demonstrated chicks' ability to add and subtract objects as they were moved behind two screens.

Audio vocalization work on chickens may help growers enhance animal welfare and increase meat and egg yields
Ongoing research on laying hens has demonstrated that bird vocalizations can serve as reliable indicators of particular forms of stress and that different vocalization patterns can be linked with specific kinds of stressful conditions. In this article from 9th of April 2009  more about this research.

First analysis of chicken genome offers many new insights

Birds Have A Good Sense Of Smell

Thinking chickens: a review of cognition, emotion, and behavior in the domestic chicken

Abstract January 2017

Mr Joy, the coolest chicken on the web
Mr. Joy had a special knack for making people smile.

Mr Clucky
         Clucky believes in peace, protecting the earth and being kind to animals. Mr. Clucky, a mascot for EarthSave, Critical Mass and PETA, was named Best Activist in Miami Beach, 2008, by Metromix magazine.

Designer Chicken saddles 
          Are your hens going bald? Do you want to protect your hens' backs? Has your hen been injured by a predator or accident? Or maybe you just want to dress up your chickens or turkeys, for fun, show, or ID. Then these designer saddles are for you!!!!!

Test-tube chicken: Let the games begin
             How much are you willing to pay for a really good piece of fried chicken? For animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) the answer is $1 million - if that chicken came from a cruelty-free Petri dish.

Fowl rescue

Eastern Shore Sanctuary& Education Center

When Bad Chickens Come Home to Roost, Results Can Be Good
 A Wall Street Journal article on the rehabilitation of roosters.

Farm Sanctuary
Farm Sanctuary works to protect farm animals from cruelty, inspire change in the way society views and treats farm animals, and promote compassionate vegan living.

Animal Place
Since 1989, Animal Place has provided safe refuge to hundreds of abused farmed animals like  cows, pigs, chickens, sheep, turkeys, goats and rabbits. The animals who come to Animal Place will remain at the sanctuary for their entire lives. In addition to sanctuary, Animal Place offers guided and self-guided farm tours, volunteer opportunities, internships, chicken care classes and workshops. 

Ancestors of chickens studied for conservation

The ancestors of domestic chickens and poultry are being conserved and studied by scientists in case the domestic birds are eradicated by outbreak of diseases like birdflu, August 2008.

From the egg to the chick

The development of a chick starts not only when the egg is hatched, but already in the Fallopian tube of the hen. More exactly, after the rooster gave his sperm to the hen. The sperm of the rooster and the ovum of the hen merge. Then the nucleus inside the egg yolk serves the chicks as food as does the white of the egg. After laying the egg the development of the chick stands still and will not be resumed until the egg gets hatched. Read more on how the chick develops in the egg.

A drop in temperature can change the sex of chickens

Telegraph article: Chatter of chickens proves they are brighter than we thought. In this article the overwhelming evidence is described that avian and mammalian brains are remarkably similar -- a fact that explains why many kinds of bird are not just twitchily resourceful but able to design and manufacture tools, solve mathematical problems and, in many cases, use language in ways that even chimpanzees and other primates cannot. Leading animal behavior scientists from across the globe now tell us that chickens are inquisitive and interesting animals whose cognitive abilities are more advanced than those of cats, dogs, and even some primates. Chickens understand sophisticated intellectual concepts, learn from watching each other, demonstrate self-control, worry about the future, and even have cultural knowledge that is passed from generation to generation. The first detailed analysis of the chicken genome has identified a chicken counterpart to an important human immune system protein, revised scientists' assessment of the chicken's sense of smell, and suggested that the chicken, long used to study gene activity in the earliest stages of life, may provide a good model for studying changes in DNA linked to aging and death. Legs are of utmost importance to birds. Improper functioning means limited or no movement and thus inadequate access to feeders and drinkers. Preventing walking and behaviour problems therefore needs to receive special attention.

Cockerels Dole Out Sperm With Precision, Study Says

            When it comes to the primal urge to pass genes on to the next generation, red jungle fowls (Gallus gallus) are a sophisticated lot: They dole out their sperm with economic and strategic precision, according to a study in 2003.

Sentience of poultry

Birds in general are thought to lack sentience and intelligence however poultry it seems are considered even more so in this respect and chickens in particular are consider to be stupid, timid lacking courage. Often such misconceptions are due to our lack of connection with these creatures, unlike a cat or a dog or even your pet budgie few of us have any real contact with poultry.  In this article you can read that there is anecdotal and scientific evidence to support the idea that poultry are sentient and indeed intelligent, with individual personalities, emotions, and the capacity of feeling pain both physical and psychological. 

The chemical senses of poultry

By Morley R. Kare 1970

Comparative anatomy, histology and physiology of the chicken

Gateway to farm animal welfare

A single access point for a wide range of information related to the welfare of farm animals. A participatory platform to retrieve and submit information, as well as to engage in commonly developed projects and thematic discussions.

The Animal Welfare Science Centre Australia

The Centre was established to focus and coordinate research and academic resources of the three collaborating organisations, providing the animal industries, animal users, farming communities, Government and the academic and general community with an internationally competitive research, training and teaching resource in animal welfare science.       

Leaflet  on Transport of poultry of the Humane Slaughter Association

This leaflet provides guidance on the EU Council Regulation on the protection of animals during transport and related operations, and on the implementing legislation for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Regulation came into force on 5 January 2007, with requirements for a certificate of competence on 5 January 2008, and satellite navigation systems for road vehicles on 1 January 2009.

Information on the slaughter of poultry of the Humane Slaughter Association 

Information on the welfare of poultry at slaughter. This page include technical, scientific and legal information essential for anyone involved in the killing of farmed animals for food.

Chilli-eating chickens repel bacteria

Chilli might one day be added to chickens while they are still alive, according to researchers in the US. A report found that half of all chickens sold in the UK were contaminated with food poisoning bacteria, so this natural approach to reducing bugs is attractive.

Useful documents

Cognition in the chicken (Gallus Gallus Domesticus) : a study of different feather pecking solutions and its effect on learning, memory and emotional reactivity in animals of the White Leghorn and Silver Nick laying hen strain

The industrialisation of agriculture has led to considerable alterations at both the technological and economical levels of animal farming. Several animal welfare issues of modern animal agriculture – e.g. stress and stereotypical behaviour – can be traced back to the industrialised intensification of housing and numbers of animals in production. Although these welfare issues dictate ethical criticism, it is the claim of this article that such direct welfare issues are only the forefront of a greater systemic ethical problem inherent to industrialisation. Consequently, this article provides an analysis of the foundational ethical problems in animal agriculture which derive from (I) overly positivistic science and (II) free-market ideology. It will be argued that both these ways of thinking allow for a systematic reification and commodification of animals and that this contributes to language and attitudes which cannot encompass ethical consideration of animals.

Though the vegetarian movement sparked by Peter Singer’s book Animal Liberation has achieved some success, there is more animal suffering caused today due to factory farming than there was when the book was originally written. In this paper, I argue that there may be a technological solution to the problem of animal suffering in intensive factory farming operations. In particular, I suggest that recent research indicates that we may be very close to, if not already at, the point where we can genetically engineer factory-farmed livestock with a reduced or completely eliminated capacity to suffer. In as much as animal suffering is the principal concern that motivates the animal welfare movement, this development should be of central interest to its adherents. Moreover, I will argue that all people concerned with animal welfare should agree that we ought to replace the animals currently used in factory farming with animals whose ability to suffer is diminished if we are able to do so. 

U.S. consumers are expressing increasing interest in the production practices used in modern food production. An issue rapidly increasing in importance to consumers is the treatment of farm animals raised
for meat, milk, and eggs destined for human consumption. Recently U.S. residents in several states have signaled concern for animal well-being through ballot initiatives that prohibit the use of particular practices (i.e., gestation crates/stalls in swine production). However, a critical question remains: what, if any, influences do animal-welfare concerns have on aggregate consumer demand for meat?
This publication summarizes findings and implications from a broader study that sought to address this issue.
Additional information on the study is available at www.agmanager.info.

New Publication:  Severe oral lesions in commercial turkeys due to Candida albicans infection. A research article by Dr Manarolla from Italy. Read more...

The journal Spring has a new issue devoted to the animal psyche and trans-species psychology. Trans-species psychology is the exciting new field established in recognition of science’s declaration that nonhuman animals have mental and emotional capacities comparable to humans. This new field offers a common language that bridges the gap between modern humanity and other animals with a “science of the heart.”

Contributing authors of Minding the Animal Psyche come from diverse disciplines and experience with parrots, chickens, bears, horses, and other animals to explore and reflect on vital questions of trans-species psychology.