# 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:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/41 "2009-10-05T15:23:53Z")
I grew up with chickens. Even with everyone on the farmstead watching them carefully predictors were still a problem. Even domestic dogs and pigs may quickly learn to kill chickens and they are predisposed to susceptibility parasites. They don’t accommodate really foul weather without some herding to shelter. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/42 "2009-10-05T15:31:41Z")
> [@Jettboy](#): > > 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. They would _talk_ about doing this but at the moment of truth, they’d all just, y’know, chicken out. ---
**Author:** ![plankter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ba0ec/32.png) [@plankter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plankter)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/43 "2009-10-05T18:48:56Z")
Obligatory [evil chicken](http://www.journalfen.net/users/waltraute/4244.html) link. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/44 "2009-10-05T19:13:14Z")
They would evolve back into dinosaurs. ---
**Author:** ![schnuckiputzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@schnuckiputzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schnuckiputzi)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/45 "2009-10-05T22:36:49Z")
The chickens that went feral on the Hawaiian islands were not the same breed of chickens we usually get around here. (Here, for me, being the US Midwest.) The heavy types, Orpingtons or Rhode Island Reds, have been bred for meat and have no brains. The Leghorns, skinny white chickens, were bred for putting out eggs like crazy and have no brains. As others have said, I have lost chickens like crazy to coons, minks, and hawks. However, ducks, especially Muscovy ducks that are descended from jungle fowl and are not that domesticated, can take care of themselves much better. ---
**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 5, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/46 "2009-10-05T23:38:36Z")
> [@janeslogin](#): > > I grew up with chickens. Even with everyone on the farmstead watching them carefully predictors were still a problem. Even domestic dogs and pigs may quickly learn to kill chickens and they are predisposed to susceptibility parasites. They don’t accommodate really foul weather without some herding to shelter. On the other hand, we had a bunch of fairly small chickens when I was growing up, but even when I was a teenager I would be pretty wary of the roosters. Those cocks can be vicious. I would not expect a typical cat to try it more than once. Of course, if they’re fighting for survival, who knows. ---
**Author:** ![JXJohns](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jxjohns/32/469_2.png) [@JXJohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JXJohns)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/47 "2009-10-06T02:53:39Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > … Alternatively, grouse and pheasants are fairly common in rural areas of Eurasia and do already live wild. Pheasants in the Midwest USA would thrive without humans plowing up their habitat. They are a bit different than a chicken though. ---
**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 6, 2009, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/48 "2009-10-06T03:14:58Z")
> [@JXJohns](#): > > Pheasants in the Midwest USA would thrive without humans plowing up their habitat. They are a bit different than a chicken though. Those pheasants wouldn’t even be there if it weren’t for humans. They’re not native to the Americas. Grouse, on the other hand, are native. ---
**Author:** ![JXJohns](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jxjohns/32/469_2.png) [@JXJohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JXJohns)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/49 "2009-10-06T13:37:44Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Those pheasants wouldn’t even be there if it weren’t for humans. They’re not native to the Americas. > > Grouse, on the other hand, are native. Regardless, in the OP’s scenario, there would be no more people, not that people never existed. The upland bird population would explode due to increased habitat not seen for a hundred years. ---
**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 6, 2009, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/50 "2009-10-06T14:08:54Z")
> [@JXJohns](#): > > Regardless, in the OP’s scenario, there would be no more people, not that people never existed. The upland bird population would explode due to increased habitat not seen for a hundred years. Okay, true. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/51 "2009-10-06T17:57:20Z")
> [@Maia\_s\_Well](#): > > …I was hoping there would be someone here who has had experience with chickens… Present. Chickens (or at least some varieties of them) could go feral just fine. We used to let our chickens roam free, so they were fully exposed to the possibility of predation from all sorts of wild animals, and they got along just fine. They foraged for bugs to supplement the grain we fed them. They roosted in trees. They would find hidden nooks in the hay loft to lay their eggs. Those chickens could have gone feral with no sweat. They were half-feral already. I see no problem with putting feral chickens in your fiction. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/52 "2009-10-06T18:16:00Z")
Ours also walk around the pens that we keep the other animals in. The goat and donkey share a pen and 2 pigs share another. The chickens come and go as the please. Once in awhile they’ll try the pen with 4 St. Bernard’s. That never ends well. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529/53 "2009-10-06T21:44:49Z")
> [@FordTaurusSHO94](#): > > Ours also walk around the pens that we keep the other animals in. The goat and donkey share a pen and 2 pigs share another. The chickens come and go as the please. Once in awhile they’ll try the pen with 4 St. Bernard’s. That never ends well. For the chickens, I assume. (It must suck when everything your own size or bigger wants to eat you. Chicken–the inter-species choice for meals and snacks.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-the-chickens-do-if-the-people-went-away/512529.md?page=2)