Animal of the Month

1. Chickens are very intelligent birds — they can even use a lever to adjust the temperature in a room to their liking.


2. Scientists have found that chickens use at least 24 different sounds to communicate with one another.


3. Chickens can be kind and thoughtful. One rooster named Notorious Boy held his wing over his hen friend, Mary, to shelter her from the rain until someone remembered to let them inside.


4. Chickens can live up to 20 years, but chickens bred for their meat live to be just 6 weeks old.


5. It is legal to keep hens locked in cages where they cannot stretch their wings or even lie down comfortably for their entire lives. This is called "battery farming", and this is where most eggs come from. Battery farming will be banned in the UK in 2012.


6. Chickens love to dustbathe. It keeps their feathers clean.


7. Chickens love to sunbathe and stretch out their wings to catch a few rays.


8. Mother hens communicate with their chicks while they are still inside the egg.


9. People who eat chickens are at risk for salmonella poisoning and may very quickly suffer sickness, diarrhoea, stomach cramps, fever and even death.


10. People who love chickens and don't eat them (or any other animal) are called "vegetarians".