Research has revealed that chickens are far more cognitively complex than their common perception suggests. Understanding chicken cognition strengthens the welfare case for enriched housing.
Chicken cognitive research has consistently exceeded expectations set by their reputation as simple prey animals. The empathy evidence is particularly compelling for welfare - hens that show physiological stress responses when their chicks are mildly distressed are demonstrating emotional processing that has clear welfare implications. An animal capable of experiencing empathy for its offspring is capable of more complex emotional experience than 'absence of pain' frameworks capture. This research directly motivates the welfare case for enriched environments that allow the cognitive engagement these birds clearly possess to be exercised.