# What would the chickens do if the people went away? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 4, 2009, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529 "2009-10-04T08:11:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/21 "2009-10-04T16:21:08Z")
After a couple of generations, are feral chickens still considered feral? (Sorry, don’t know how to ask the question more clearly than that.) ---
**Author:** ![Maia\_s\_Well](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Maia\_s\_Well](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maia_s_Well)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/22 "2009-10-04T16:29:50Z")
Outstanding stuff thanks! > [@Xema](#): > > Rounding them up in the evening was a challenge until I accidentally discovered a magic solution: a kite shaped something like a large hawk. The chickens had an instinctive fear of this when seen above them, and would scurry for cover. The 20-minute job of getting them all inside was reduced to 30 seconds. **Xema** , may I pretty please use this? This would add tremendously to the scene, especially in terms of character development. The girl is 14, and I’m growing more and more fond of her. The woman is trying to protect her in a dangerous world, but the lil one’s tougher and smarter than the woman is able to see at first. And it would go great with the inspiration from: > [@Blake](#): > > I’ve always let my chickens wander freely by day. That makes them happier and it also makes them much cheaper to feed. Free range chickens can lay on grain alone, being capable of obtaining all the protein and other nutrients they need by foraging. Free range chickens with no supplementary grain will stop laying, but they certainly won’t starve to death. So just don’t have your chickens producing eggs. See, this is great, because the woman is sick of the violence and just wants to find eggs, but there are none, so the girl is, like, what about the chickens, and after the girl figures out how to catch them (can you just see her sailing through the yard with the makeshift hawk-kite! awesome), the woman tries to butcher one, but she has flashbacks of drilling into the back of the Down Syndrome girls’ heads with the cordless Makita, and the girl is like, dude, they’re c_chickens_, and…well. > [@Blake](#): > > \ > …amenable to independent existence than others. The bantams and most game breeds are very close to the wild ancestor …personally favour bantam x leghorn crosses… a lot of smarts …keep a bantam rooster because they are very protective of the hens. > [@Blake](#): > > Would now be a bad time to point out that chickens are herd/pack oriented animals, and thus should be dead.. ok, this is a good question to help me answer. I’m saying “pack/herd” but that’s not the best way to describe what I’m seeing that’s different in these different types of animals. Mebbe if I tell you what I see, you can tell me what I mean. There are the chickens, and birds, and lizards in the script that all live and seem unaffected by the virus. They serve a few, I guess, theme functions and other crap that I don’t like to think about while I’m writing. But I watch the little lizards here down in Florida, I watch their eyes and their heads, and I watch how, other than apparent mating/fighting behaviors, they don’t seem to see or connect to each other. The birds eyes and the way they look and the way they look like they’re thinking looks similar to me. I wish I could explain it better than this, but they all remind me of…dinosaurs. I know, weird, right? And probably not scientifically valid. But I’m going for a feeling here, (hopefully) without anyone science-minded throwing the script on the floor because of ignorant error. There are animals who live more together, and more importantly (in this context), live for and through each other in certain positions, where members have someone specialized in roles that don’t solely support the individual or simply recreation. These are the animals that I see as effected and affected by this virus. The dinosaurs live this time; it’s the us that are indanger and endangered by extinction. So, what do chickens and lizards and birds seem like to you? Do they feel/seem/appear different than us n dogs n cows? (Let’s leave the cat critters out for now; they’re another clan.) Again, thanks to all. This is very inspiring and adding a lot more to the story than I expected. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/23 "2009-10-04T16:31:18Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > After a couple of generations, are feral chickens still considered feral? Yes, an animal is feral if any of its ancestors were ever domesticated. So, for example, rabbits in England are still considered feral despite the fact that they have been living without human interference for 2, 000 years. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/24 "2009-10-04T16:40:57Z")
I’m not sure what you’re getting at, but chickens have a very strict social heirarchy, they hunt co-operatively (you better believe chickens hunt), they communicate incessantly. IOW they are every bit as much pack animals as dogs are. Pigs are far less pack animals than chickens. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/25 "2009-10-04T16:45:50Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > Yes, an animal is feral if any of its ancestors were ever domesticated. So, for example, rabbits in England are still considered feral despite the fact that they have been living without human interference for 2, 000 years. Huh. Interesting. Thanks. **Maia’s Well** – could you get around it by having only mammals be subject to the virus, and then only some kinds of critters within mammalia? ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/26 "2009-10-04T16:55:17Z")
We bought a house five years ago that came with a barn and chickens. The previous owner said he has never fed the chickens, so we didn’t have to do anything with them. After five years, we still have chickens and we’ve never fed them. They live in the barn, for the most part. We’ll find eggs in random spots once in awhile though. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/27 "2009-10-04T17:04:10Z")
> [@Maia\_s\_Well](#): > > So, what do chickens and lizards and birds seem like to you? Do they feel/seem/appear different than us n dogs n cows? (Let’s leave the cat critters out for now; they’re another clan.) Well, all the animals you’ve said are affected are mammals. So that would probably go some way to explain why birds and reptiles aren’t affected. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/28 "2009-10-04T17:24:31Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > Depends what you mean. > > There are feral chickens in wild habitats in numerous places around the world, and there are still plenty of ancestral jungle fowl in the wild. But strictly speaking there are no chickens in the wild because chickens are a domesticate. That’s a contradiction of statements. In the wild means they occupy a woods, prairie or any other habitat that isn’t being maintained by humans. It has nothing to do with if they were ever domesticated. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/29 "2009-10-04T18:01:25Z")
> [@Maia\_s\_Well](#): > > she has flashbacks of drilling into the back of the Down Syndrome girls’ heads with the cordless Makita :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Maia\_s\_Well](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Maia\_s\_Well](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maia_s_Well)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/30 "2009-10-04T18:16:17Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > :eek: yah, well, cruel to be kind. sorta 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/31 "2009-10-04T18:34:29Z")
> [@Maia\_s\_Well](#): > > Thanks for the responses. I have found information on the long-term effect of the disappearance of humans. I think the Discovery channel did a pretty good series. It was the [History Channel](http://www.history.com/content/life_after_people) To directly answer the OP: Cross the road with impunity someone had to get it out of the way ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/32 "2009-10-04T18:45:20Z")
> [@Maia\_s\_Well](#): > > **Xema** , may I pretty please use this? This would add tremendously to the scene, especially in terms of character development. Certainly. ---
**Author:** ![solarnator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/74df32/32.png) [@solarnator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solarnator)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/33 "2009-10-04T18:53:07Z")
I own chickens, their pen is open. If I don’t keep them penned in, they wander to the treeline and make nests there and lay eggs. Not easy to get eggs either. They only come back cause they “know” that food comes when I show up. If I don’t show up, they start finding their own. Ants, bugs, plants…whatever they peck at. They take care of the local bug problem pretty well. When eggs hatch, the roosters try to kill them chicks and sometimes succeed too! The hens hide their eggs because of this and are very protective of the chicks. Its better to toss some corn out and while the hens are busy eating, you grab their eggs. Chickens aren’t domesticated, no matter how much you try, they will go wild in a generation. Cats too, I got some wild cats that have kittens every year and a few ate the chickens. They come from the city that is about 3 miles away. Cats may be domesticated…but they don’t stay that way long…the instinct to survive is just too strong. I once even took a kitten (who was lost) into my home…boy was it wild for the first few months. After about 6 months and was well fed and grown, it left and I only saw it from time to time around my home. As for the other “wild” cats, they avoided humans. by the way, both the chickens and cats live through the winter on their own. Winter is about 4 months where I live. I feed the chickens but I can be pretty sure they know how to live without me. In warmer climates, I bet they would thrive…if someone didn’t catch one and eat it first. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/34 "2009-10-04T19:28:09Z")
Some years ago, a truck of live chickens overturned near the Hollywood & Ventura Freeways in Los Angeles, and many chickens escaped. Not all were rounded up right away – it is heavily landscaped with scrub brush watered by sprinklers and with many pavement levels, culverts, etc., that made ideal hiding places. The chickens lived for years, even reproduced, IIRC, aided in survival by well-meaning neighbors who put out food, and named some of the birds after actors, like Gregory Peck. Other neighbors thought the birds were a nusiance and after much complaining and government red tape, there was a serious dragnet which finally rounded up all the miscreants, and the birds, too, and took them to the butch…er, the country, where they roamed and scratched the rest of their natural lives. Yeah, that’s what happened, or at least what we told Timmy. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/35 "2009-10-04T19:33:30Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Haven’t you guys ever head of the chickens of [Kauai](http://www.govisithawaii.com/2008/07/07/why-does-kauai-have-so-many-wild-chickens/)? > > I’ve raised chickens, and they will do just fine in the wild (until the coyotes get them). I was going to bring up Kaua’i as well. There’s wild chickens damn near everyplace. ---
**Author:** ![Uncertain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Uncertain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncertain)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/36 "2009-10-05T00:26:20Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > chickens have a very strict social heirarchy Almost a pecking order, really. ---
**Author:** ![Maia\_s\_Well](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Maia\_s\_Well](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maia_s_Well)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/37 "2009-10-05T00:27:52Z")
OK, clearly there’s a whole lot more to chickens than I realized. I think I’m gonna have to go meet some. Thanks, y’all (esp. Xema!) ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/38 "2009-10-05T03:58:57Z")
> [@Jettboy](#): > > They’d revert to a wild state of chickenhood. > > Roving packs of feral chickens would attack, kill and eat other animals, even animals substantially larger than themselves. Without mankind to control them, they’d throw off the shackles of Colonel Sanders and become the dominant predator species on the planet. Chickens are only dangerous if you get them angry, say by slashing at one with a sword a few times. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/39 "2009-10-05T05:25:11Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > I’m struggling to think of any domestic plant besides bananas and maize that don’t have feral populations. Can you name some? Do seedless grapes and watermelons count? ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/40 "2009-10-05T08:01:20Z")
We’ve got three chickens in the backyard living (nominally) in an unused pool enclosure. Two of them get out by themselves and wander around scrabbling in the weeds for food – they can make a heck of a mess of a bark garden too. They wander back when food is offered, or usually at night (but not always) – it’s been wet and horrible today and those two are sheltering on our back porch tonight. One in particular quite often wanders off and nests somewhere by herself (she’s good at hiding her nests and eggs), and she’s an old ex-battery hen so instincts I’m guessing not nurture. There are plenty of (outdoors) cats in the neighbourhood too (including our own), but they don’t mess with the chickens. Something about the chickens does seem to trigger hunting instincts in the cats and they’ll stalk them, or sit in a tree or on a fence and watch them… sometimes even hunker down and look like they might pounce… and then if the chickens come too close the cats will get up and saunter away with a of feigned disinterest. 🙂 I can certainly imagine the cats would take chicks if available, but they don’t seem keen to tackle full grown chickens (but I don’t know what they’d do if starving). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529.md?page=3)