We have about 35 hens on our farm. Some of them are far more intelligent than others.

There's also a reason we free-roam our birds. They have cultivated a network with the our two pigs and the resident crows. The chickens will find a spot that might have bugs or something. They will make a fuss and the pigs will come over and dig it up. Then the chickens will pick away at what gets dug up. Then the crows come in after for what's left.

In return, the crows watch over the chickens in the early mornings and will make a ruckus if there's a threat nearby, which sends the chickens back into the coop. We will throw out dog kibble for the crows or buy old pumpkins/squash from our local market and toss it outside at 5am for the crows to have their own snack.

All this started because our chickens could manipulate the pigs to come dig up a particular spot they wanted dug up.

They are fascinating if you just get stoned and watch them for a while. Like watching a telenovela about dinosaurs and not understanding a word of Spanish. They're all so expressive that you really don't need to know the dialogue, you can just figure it out. They've all got personalities and attitudes and a whole social structure.

Yours don't