#note/sourcereview/article | #note/sourcereview/book ## What is the thesis? > p. 68 "Chickens, like all birds, are really feathered dinosaurs ... And yet we share a fundamental talent: a need for companionship, a capacity for affection." ## Am I convinced and why? This is a quick 65 page book outlining the ups, downs, and learnings of Sy Montgomery's experience as a chicken owner in New Hampshire. She learns from them, she loves them, she cares about and for them, and they bring her connections to a side of nature, along with her neighbors. ## Summarize the argument At risk of anthropomorphizing, the behaviors of chickens lead us to believe that they can learn, they can be affectionate, the flocks have cultures, and we share more with them than we may appreciate at first glance. ## What is the other side of the argument? They really are dinosaurs with feathers. They may have behaviors, it doesn't mean they have intelligence. Those behaviors can change with repeated stimulae, is that really [[learning]]? ## What else do I wonder about? How can we tell what is behavior and what is more? ## Action I want to spend some time with my flock out of their cage. I miss the connection with them free-ranging brings. It does hold _some_ risk for sure, but there's some reward for us and the hens. [Make the hens popcorn for holidays](https://app.todoist.com/app/task/8672690014) ## When do I want to stumble across this? #on/farming | #on/animals| #on/behavior | #on/love ## Source: Montgomery, S. (2024). _What the Chicken Knows: A New Appreciation of the World’s Most Familiar Bird_ (1st ed). Atria Books.Montgomery, S. (2024). _What the Chicken Knows: A New Appreciation of the World’s Most Familiar Bird_ (1st ed). Atria Books. ## References, Quotes, Ideas p. 15 "The average chicken can remember over one hundred other chickens ... facial features seem to be particularly important." p. 23 "Chickens both remember the past and anticipate the future." They have even done a version of the "marshmallow challenge" with chickens, and the chickens pass. p. 25 "More than 70 percent of people could tell the difference between the voice of a happy excited chicken and that of an unhappy one, just by sound alone" p. 29 "I think sometimes, we spend our lives doing too much of the talking," she concluded her blog post about her chicken name. "Animals have a lot to say." p. 33 "Because he was bigger and bossier than the others, we suspected from the start that he might be a rooster and thought he would make a fine one. When he started to crow, we knew. But we didn't know yet what darkness lurked in his rooster heart." p. 40 "Bird are thinking, feeling creatures, but some of what they do is beyond their conscious control, irresistibly carved into their genes." _I think that goes for all animals_ - LS