The inside of my head is a very, very strange place.

[azurelunatic]

This most recently observed when I was thinking that a lot of people know cat body language for expressing general affection, but not many people know chicken body language.

and *gently pecks a random speck of something off your face* is therefore something which needs serious explaining.


#instantmessagesIhavesenttoPurple

Comments

[vass]

I'm still working on learning chicken body language.

On of my FB friends got her first cat last year, and didn't know any cat language. It was really weird to realise how much I'd assumed "everyone knows" that isn't actually a given. She was trying to read her cat's facial expression - she didn't even know to look at the tail and ears, let alone what they mean.

[azurelunatic]

One of my favorite chicken language stories is from the time I was with my aunt at chicken camp. We were inside clicker-training the chickens, and I noticed in passing that a flock of crows landed on the lawn outside. Someone inside said "Danger-from-the-sky!" and I noticed that my hen tensed. So I kept a good hold on her. None of the other humans noticed anything in particular, so they were really surprised when one of the less excitable hens suddenly took off flying from the table.

"I have no idea what got into her," the guy said, retrieving her.

"Yeah, all of them are a little skittish."

"Didn't you hear? One of them said 'Reeeeeewwwwwwwww!'" I said. "When those crows landed."

So everybody took a break while the birds calmed down.

[siliconshaman]

okay... initial reaction was "Chickens have a language?!"... but then I suppose they're basically highly evolved therapods, a family that's been around for a few million years so I guess they would have... even if it is hardwired.

and so help me, if you're pranking us, I will be very disappointed in you.

[azurelunatic]

You can't translate everything that comes out of their beaks to English, but there are certain sounds and gestures that have meaning.

Roosters lie, incidentally. Some bastards will say "There's food here!" as an excuse to get the hens over. While picking up and dropping a stick . (You're supposed to pick up and drop some of the food.)