TL;DR: New method of the mirror test shows self awareness in roosters. General suggestion that the mirror tests that have done in the past may have been misleading/not getting the right picture
Chickens and turkeys are super smart and friendly. I’ve met a few turkeys rescued from turkey farms and they try to preen you as a sign of affection 😊
even if they weren’t smart or nice, their lives are not ours to take, regardless of how much you like the taste of their flesh
I take issue with the way the old mirror test is administered by seeing if they react to a mark on their body only visible in a mirror. It doesn’t account for the fact that the animal might… just not give a shit if it’s marked. Dogs apparently fail the mirror test, but mine and plenty of other dogs will turn and look at you if they spot you in a mirror and you wave or do something to get their attention, so clearly dogs understand the concept of reflections enough to know what they’re looking at.
New mirror test. Who dis?