Some women are cat ladies. Sy Montgomery is a chicken lady instead. She kept chickens as pets for over 20 years. Her book “What the Chicken Knows: A New Appreciation of the World’s Most Familiar Bird” captures her experiences with chickens on her rural homestead. It relates her travels in what she terms the “chicken universe,” and what she’s learned about and learned from chickens while in it.
Montgomery began raising chickens after she and her husband bought a 150-year-old farmhouse in rural New Hampshire in the late 1980s. A neighbor gave her 12 hen chicks. Montgomery didn’t know what to expect. But raising the birds from chicks to hens left her hooked. She continued keeping chickens until the 2010s.
It went beyond her being charmed by her new pets. Raising chickens proved a voyage of discovery for her. She reveals the best way to tame an aggressive rooster: cuddle him. It’s counterintuitive, but it works. She learned that chickens were surprisingly intelligent. They recognize their image in a mirror as a reflection.
Chickens have a language using distinct calls to communicate information and warnings. They recognize other individual members of their flock and individual humans and have unique calls to identify individuals. They also have individual personalities. Some are outgoing, others reserved.
Montgomery shows how a rooster is often the best defense a flock can have against animal predators. It will fight to the death, if necessary, to protect its hens. At the same time, it will be fiercely loyal to its “family,” finding treats for them, and seeing its hens feed first.
The author offers a mix of science and personal experience in this book. She does not anthropomorphize, or humanize, her chickens. Rather, she cites zoological research to explain their behavior and buttress her claims.
The result is a charming book that is a delightful and informative read. Capturing life in rural New England along the way, Montgomery presents a history of chickens along with her experiences keeping them. The book offers surprises about their behavior and what is involved in raising them.
“What the Chicken Knows” is a slim volume, but well worth your while despite its brevity. More, it offers insight into the animal kingdom and how wildlife, domesticated birds, and humans fit together. The book will make readers look at chickens and their relationship with humans in a new way.
