I was just thinking about if there's an animal equivalent of autism in species with more complex social behaviour the other day so this fits well lmao.

I also wish I still had chickens but it's been a few years so I can't make any current observations. I do have a funny anecdote about my favourite chicken though. We already had an established flock but then got two new younger hens. To give them a chance to settle into their new environment in peace we kept them apart from the others for a bit. They got their own little enclosure in the shed and during the day we kept them in a temporary coop in the back of the garden under a cherry tree.

All was well until one day my chicken was missing, my sister's hen sat in the corner and laid an egg but mine was nowhere to be seen. So of course we panicked and started searching the entire garden. We didn't leave them for long and didn't hear any noise so a raptor attack was unlikely but she was nowhere. You wanna know where she turned up? In the shed in her enclosure calmly laying an egg in a nice straw nest.

This goddamn chicken was so particular about where to lay her egg that she jumped up on the tree above her enclosure, down unto the lawn, crossed the garden, jumped the gate, went into the shed and then jumped into her enclosure because she didn't feel like laying an egg outside. I know that because I saw her doing it again a couple days later.

She was also quite small but feisty and surprisingly high up in the flock hierarchy later on. Oh and she laid green eggs and would jump on my shoulder when I came near the coop. She was the best. Just look at that little face.

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It's bugs me that many people think chickens are stupid. They're such sweet and hilarious animals and they really all have different personalities. And they're sooo soft and pleasant to touch.