Curious About Chickens

PODCAST 198: CURIOUS ABOUT CHICKENS

RELEASE DATE: SUNDAY, JULY 17TH, 2022

D:  HELLO, AND WELCOME BACK TO THE CURIOUS KID PODCAST.  WE ARE ALMOST 200 EPISODES INTO THE PODCAST, AND WE’RE ABOUT TO DO SOMETHING WE’VE NEVER DONE BEFORE.  WE ARE GOING TO GET CURIOUS FOR A LISTENER THAT SENT US A SUGGESTION OVER 3 YEARS AGO, ON JULY 13TH, 2019.  

O:  TRIPLE-MAILBAG!

D:  TRIPLE-MAILBAG!

“HI OLIVIA, THIS IS SKYLAR.  WE KNOW EACH OTHER FROM CAMP.  I AM 6.  I LOVE YOUR PODCAST SO MUCH!  I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT CHICKENS AND THEIR FEATHERS.  CAN THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK BE HOW THEY LAY EGGS?  THANKS!

-SKY”

“HI THERE!  THIS IS OLIVIA AND KAYLEIGH AND THEIR MOMMY, ASHLEY.  WE WANTED TO WRITE AND SAY WE LOVE YOUR PODCAST!  WE LISTEN TO IT WHILE WE ARE IN THE CAR AND IT IS SO FUN TO LEARN ABOUT DIFFERENT THINGS.  WE ESPECIALLY LOVED YOUR EPISODES ABOUT DOGS AND CATS AND WERE WONDERING ABOUT CHICKENS!  AND ALSO THE MOON.

-KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, MUCH LOVE FROM SCAPPOOSE, OREGON”

“HI OLIVIA AND JACOB, WE REALLY ENJOY YOUR PODCAST.  WE HEAR IT EVERY TIME WE’RE ON THE ROAD TRAVELING TO SOMEWHERE IN ONTARIO, CANADA.  WE ARE CURIOUS ABOUT CHICKENS AND I HEARD CHICKENS CAN SURVIVE WITHOUT THEIR HEADS.  IF THEY CAN, HOW LONG CAN THEY SURVIVE WITHOUT IT?  BY THE WAY, MY SISTER WANTS TO LEARN ABOUT DOLPHINS.  KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.  

-FROM SOFIA AND EMILIANO OF TORONTO, CANADA”

O:  WOW, THOSE WERE THREE AMAZING E-MAILS.  SKYLAR, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING SO PATIENT AND WAITING 3 YEARS FOR US TO GET CURIOUS FOR YOU.  ALSO, WE WANT TO LET OUR LISTENERS KNOW THAT WE GOT CURIOUS ABOUT THE MOON, AND ABOUT DOLPHINS, WAY BACK IN EPISODES 13 AND 27, WHEN I WAS ONLY 5 YEARS OLD, SO CHECK THOSE EPISODES OUT IF YOU ARE CURIOUS ABOUT THOSE TOPICS LIKE OUR AMAZING LISTENERS THAT SENT US E-MAILS.  WE ARE GETTING CURIOUS ABOUT CHICKENS THIS WEEK FOR SKYLAR, OLIVIA, KAYLEIGH, SOFIA, AND EMILIANO.  

D:  NOT ONLY WERE THOSE E-MAILS FANTASTIC, BUT OUR LISTENERS ALSO GAVE US GREAT QUESTIONS WE ARE GOING TO ANSWER.  

O:  SKYLAR WANTED TO KNOW HOW CHICKENS LAY EGGS.  WE ARE GOING TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION, NEXT WEEK, BECAUSE NEXT WEEK WE ARE GETTING CURIOUS ABOUT EGGS.

D:  HAVE YOU EVER HEARD THE RIDDLE, WHICH CAME FIRST - THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG?  

O:  I HAVE - IT’S A GREAT QUESTION AND REALLY MAKES YOU THINK.  

D:  THAT’S TRUE, AND UNFORTUNATELY, WE DON’T HAVE THE ANSWER TO THAT GREAT RIDDLE, BUT WE ARE GOING TO GET CURIOUS ABOUT CHICKENS THIS WEEK BEFORE WE GET CURIOUS ABOUT EGGS NEXT WEEK, SO FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE PODCAST, THE EPISODE ON CHICKENS WILL COME BEFORE THE EPISODE ON EGGS.  OKAY OLIVIA, WHAT’S THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK?

O:  THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK IS, WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD?

D:  NOPE, NO WAY.  THAT’S NOT THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK.  THAT’S JUST A JOKE WITH A PRETTY BAD PUNCHLINE.  WE WOULDN’T DO THAT TO YOU.  WHAT’S THE REAL QUESTION OF THE WEEK?

O:  THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK IS, CAN CHICKENS REALLY SURVIVE WITHOUT THEIR HEADS?

D:  THAT’S CRAZY, BUT IS IT TRUE?  HANG OUT FOR JUST A FEW MORE MINUTES TO FIND OUT.    

O:  CHICKENS ARE A TYPE OF DOMESTICATED BIRD.  THAT JUST MEANS THAT THEY ARE ABLE TO LIVE PEACEFULLY WITH HUMANS.  THERE ARE LOTS OF CHICKENS IN THE WORLD.  

D:  SOME ESTIMATES HAVE THE NUMBER OF CHICKENS WORLDWIDE AT ABOUT 33 BILLION.  THAT’S A CRAZY NUMBER OF CHICKENS.  IT’S ESSENTIALLY 4 CHICKENS FOR EVERY SINGLE HUMAN ON EARTH.  

O:  A MALE CHICKEN IS A ROOSTER, AND A FEMALE CHICKEN IS A HEN.  BABY CHICKENS ARE CALLED CHICKS, AND THEY ARE SOME OF THE CUTEST ANIMALS AROUND.  HENS LAY EGGS, AND WHEN THOSE EGGS HATCH, CHICKS ARE BORN.  WE ARE GOING TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THAT NEXT WEEK.

D:  CHICKENS ARE OMNIVORES.  THAT MEANS THAT THEY EAT ANIMALS AND ALSO FOOD FROM PLANTS, LIKE FRUITS, VEGETABLES AND SEEDS.

O:  SOME OF THEIR FAVORITE ANIMALS TO EAT INCLUDE INSECTS AND SMALL SNAKES.  THEY AREN’T VERY PICKY, AND WILL EAT JUST ABOUT ANYTHING THEY CAN GET THEIR BEAKS ON. 

D:  CHICKENS CAN FLY, BUT ONLY FOR SHORT DISTANCES.  FOR EXAMPLE, THEY MIGHT FLY JUST TO GET OVER A FENCE.  CHICKENS OFTEN PREFER TO WALK OR RUN, AND ONLY FLY TO ESCAPE DANGER.  CHICKENS ARE SUPER FAST RUNNERS, AND CAN RUN UP TO 9 MILES PER HOUR.  THEY ARE ALSO CAPABLE OF TURNING DIRECTIONS VERY SUDDENLY, MAKING THEM VERY GOOD AT ESCAPING PREDATORS.    

O:  CHICKENS ARE VERY SOCIAL BIRDS, AND A GROUP OF CHICKENS WILL CREATE A PECKING ORDER.

D:  THIS IS REALLY INTERESTING STUFF.  IN A FLOCK OF CHICKENS, SOME CHICKENS WILL BE DOMINANT AND BOSSY, WHILE OTHER CHICKENS WILL BE MORE SUBMISSIVE AND ACCEPTING OF THE BOSSINESS OF THE OTHER CHICKENS.

O:  THE NAME OF THE HIERARCHY THAT CHICKENS CREATE IS CALLED A PECKING ORDER.

D:  I’M NOT SURE IF YOU’VE EVER HEARD THE TERM PECKING ORDER, BUT IT CAME FROM CHICKENS ORIGINALLY.  STRONGER CHICKENS BULLY WEAKER CHICKENS AND WILL EVEN PECK AT THEM.  

O:  THE CRAZY THING IS THAT ALL CHICKENS ARE AWARE OF THEIR POSITION IN THE PECKING ORDER AND ARE ACCEPTING OF THEIR POSITION IN THE PECKING ORDER, EVEN THE ONES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PECKING ORDER.  

D:  REMOVING CHICKENS FROM A FLOCK OR ADDING NEW ONES TO THE FLOCK CAN EVEN MESS UP THE HIERARCHY FOR A BIT UNTIL A NEW ONE IS CREATED.  

O:  CHICKENS ARE VERY SMART ANIMALS AND ARE CAPABLE OF DOING LOTS OF THINGS OTHER ANIMALS CAN’T DO.  FOR EXAMPLE, WE KNOW THAT CHICKENS DREAM WHEN THEY SLEEP.  WE KNOW THAT, BECAUSE THEY DO SOMETHING CALLED R.E.M. WHEN THEY SLEEP.

D:  THE LETTERS R.E.M. STAND FOR RAPID EYE MOVEMENT.  WHEN WE SLEEP, THERE IS A STAGE IN OUR SLEEP CALLED R.E.M. WHEN OUR EYES MOVE RAPIDLY WHILE THEY ARE CLOSED.  IT’S DURING THIS STAGE OF SLEEP THAT DREAMING TAKES PLACE. LIKE HUMANS, CHICKENS EXPERIENCE R.E.M. SLEEP AND THEY DREAM DURING R.E.M.

O:  CHICKENS ARE CAPABLE OF RECOGNIZING FACES.  THEY ARE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE MORE THAN A HUNDRED FACES.  THAT’S BECAUSE THEY HAVE GREAT MEMORIES.

D:  CHICKENS UNDERSTAND CAUSE AND EFFECT.  THAT MEANS THAT THEY KNOW THAT DOING ONE THING WILL CAUSE ANOTHER.

O:  AN EXAMPLE OF CAUSE AND EFFECT IS THAT I KNOW THAT IF I EAT TOO MUCH, I WILL GET A BELLY ACHE.

D:  A LOT OF ANIMALS DON’T UNDERSTAND CAUSE AND EFFECT, BUT CHICKENS DO.  CHICKENS ALSO TEACH EACH OTHER.  

O:  FOR EXAMPLE, MOMMY HENS WILL TEACH THEIR CHICKS WHAT IS SAFE TO EAT AND WHAT TO AVOID.  

D:  HERE IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF SOMETHING CHICKENS DO THAT MAKE THEM REALLY SMART ANIMALS.  THEY UNDERSTAND OBJECT PERMANENCE.  SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?  THAT MEANS THAT THEY UNDERSTAND THAT, IF AN OBJECT IS TAKEN AWAY FROM THEM, IT STILL EXISTS EVEN THOUGH THEY CAN’T SEE IT.

O:  THAT MIGHT SEEM OBVIOUS, BUT HUMANS DON’T COMPREHEND OBJECT PERMANENCE UNTIL THEY ARE ABOUT 6 MONTHS OLD.  CHICKS AS YOUNG AS A FEW DAYS OLD ALREADY SHOW AN UNDERSTANDING OF OBJECT PERMANENCE.  MANY ANIMALS NEVER SHOW OBJECT PERMANENCE AT ANY AGE, SO CHICKENS ARE SUPER SMART. 

D:  CHICKENS ALSO HAVE A COMPLEX LANGUAGE THAT ALLOWS THEM TO COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER.

O:  THEY MAKE AT LEAST 30 DIFFERENT TYPES OF SOUNDS THAT ALL MEAN SOMETHING DIFFERENT.  ONE SOUND IS USED TO SHOW THAT THEY ARE SATISFIED, ANOTHER IS USED FOR CALLING CHICKS, AND ANOTHER IS USED FOR WARNING THE REST OF THE FLOCK THAT A PREDATOR IS NEARBY.  

D:  HERE IS ANOTHER CRAZY CHICKEN FACT.  IF YOU LISTENED TO EPISODE 16, ALL THE WAY BACK IN SEASON 1, YOU MAY REMEMBER THAT CHICKENS ARE CLOSELY RELATED TO DINOSAURS.  

O:  THEY ARE THE CLOSEST LIVING RELATIVE OF THE T. rex.  THAT’S ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING FACTS I THINK WE’VE EVER LEARNED IN THE PODCAST. 

D:  I AGREE.  BEFORE WE GET TO THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK, LET’S GO BACK INTO HISTORY A LITTLE BIT, NOT QUITE BACK AS FAR AS THE DINOSAURS.  LET’S GO BACK TO WHEN I WAS A CURIOUS KID MYSELF.  WHEN I WAS A KID, THERE WAS A DISEASE THAT KIDS COMMONLY GOT CALLED CHICKENPOX.  IT’S POSSIBLE THAT SOME OF OUR YOUNG LISTENERS HAVE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF CHICKENPOX, BECAUSE VERY FEW PEOPLE GET IT THESE DAYS.

WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE, OLIVIA, ABOUT 4 MILLION PEOPLE, MOST OF THEM KIDS, GOT CHICKENPOX EVERY YEAR.  I HAD IT, AND SO DID MY TWO OLDER BROTHERS.  THEN THE CHICKENPOX VACCINE CAME OUT IN 1995, AND EVER SINCE THEN, ONLY A FEW THOUSAND PEOPLE GET CHICKENPOX EVERY YEAR.  

O:  WELL, WHAT DO CHICKENS HAVE TO DO WITH CHICKENPOX?

D:  ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.  CHICKENPOX DIDN’T COME FROM CHICKENS.  IN FACT, CHICKEN’S CAN’T EVEN GET CHICKENPOX.  THERE ARE A FEW THEORIES AS TO WHY IT’S CALLED CHICKENPOX.  ONE THEORY IS THAT IT WAS A LOT WEAKER THAN SMALLPOX.  HAVE YOU EVER HEARD SOMEONE CALL SOMEONE ELSE CHICKEN BECAUE THEY WERE AFRAID TO DO SOMETHING OR TOO WEAK TO DO SOMETHING?  BECAUSE CHICKENS ARE SEEN AS WEAK FOR SOME REASON, THE FACT THAT THIS NEW POX DISEASE WAS MUCH WEAKER THAN SMALLPOX WAS PROBABLY REASON ENOUGH TO EARN THE NAME CHICKENPOX.

O:  ANOTHER THEORY IS THAT THE RASH CAUSED BY CHICKENPOX LOOKS LIKE CHICKPEAS, OR THAT IT LOOKS LIKE THE INFECTED PERSON HAS BEEN PECKED AT BY A CHICKEN.  

D:  THAT COULD BE, BECAUSE CHICKENPOX CAUSES A PRETTY NASTY RASH THAT IS SUPER, SUPER ITCHY.  WELL, WHATEVER THE REASON IT’S CALLED CHICKENPOX, CHICKENS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT AT ALL.  OKAY OLIVIA, LET’S ANSWER THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK.  CAN CHICKENS REALLY SURVIVE WITHOUT THEIR HEADS?

O:  THE ANSWER IS THAT THEY CAN LIVE WITHOUT THEIR HEADS, AND EVEN RUN WITHOUT THEIR HEADS, BUT THEY USUALLY ONLY LIVE FOR A FEW MINUTES WITHOUT THE HEAD ATTACHED.

D:  THAT IS CRAZY!  THERE IS EVEN A CASE OF A CHICKEN THAT LIVED FOR 18 MONTHS WITHOUT A HEAD, BUT USUALLY HEADLESS CHICKENS ONLY SURVIVE FOR A FEW MINUTES.  WELL, THAT’S A WRAP FOR THIS WEEK’S EPISODE.  WE WILL BE BOCK, BOCK, BOCK, BOCK, BOCK NEXT WEEK TO LEARN ALL ABOUT EGGS.

O:  198 - CHICKENS.

D:  GREAT JOB OLIVIA, AND GREAT JOB SKYLAR, OLIVIA, KAYLEIGH, SOFIA, AND EMILIANO FOR THE POULTRY, BUT CERTAINLY NOT PALTRY, EPISODE TOPIC SUGGESTION.  CURIOUS KID PODCAST LISTENERS, OR CURIOUS KID PODDIES, ONLY 2 WEEKS LEFT UNTIL EPISODE 200.  AS WE DID IN EPISODE 100, OLIVIA HERSELF IS GOING TO PICK OUR EPISODE TOPIC FOR EPISODE 200, SO STAY TUNED.  BEFORE WE SAY GOODBYE, WE HAVE A FEW VERY SPECIAL PEOPLE TO THANK.

O:  THANK YOU TO OUR NEWEST PATREON SUPPORTERS, JEREMY O. AND TEDDY R.

D:  A BIG THANKS TO OUR INCREDIBLE PATREON SUPPORTERS.  YOU ALLOW US TO DO WHAT WE LOVE TO DO, CREATE THIS PODCAST.  WE HOPE YOU ARE LOVING ALL OF THE EXCLUSIVE CURRENT EVENTS EPISODES WE’VE BEEN RELEASING MONTHLY.  

O:  WE ALSO WANT TO THANK ROMAN FROM CANADA FOR THE 5 STAR REVIEW.

D:  IT SAYS “HEY, MY NAME IS ROMAN.  I LOVE YOUR PODCAST.  I FEEL LIKE EVERYONE SHOULD BE LISTENING TO IT.  I WISH THERE WERE LIKE A THOUSAND STARS TO RATE BECAUSE I WOULD RATE IT 1,000.”

O:  ROMAN, YOU’RE AWESOME.  THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEW. 

D:  WE ARE SO GRATEFUL ANY TIME WE GET A NEW REVIEW, ESPECIALLY FROM SOMEONE THAT WANTS TO GIVE US A 1,000 STAR REVIEW.  NEXT WEEK, WE WILL GET CURIOUS ABOUT EGGS FOR LISTENERS FROM DALLAS, TEXAS AND NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA.  AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LISTENING AND GETTING CURIOUS WITH US.