I had a dream last night about being on an old-style sailing ship. The crew member in the crow’s nest was a chicken. It was a little odd, so I asked why there was a chicken on lookout. The quartermaster said, “Well, their heads can lock in place while they’re moving, so their line of sight is stable. They don’t get seasick.” The chicken agreed, and said it was a decent enough job for a crewmember without hands.
I woke up, and obviously was a little confused by what the hell my brain threw at me. But it does posit the question, do chickens get seasick?
Ducks get carsick. I had a duck that went for a few car rides and he’d get sick every time. :(
Poor lil guy. :(
Yeah. Plain potato chips and cold water seemed to be the fix for him though.
Honestly, that sounds amazing. I’d be better too after that
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I love this question and its origin. I, too, would like to know if chickens (and other birds with stabilization) can get seasick!
So the one guy says chickens can’t vomit but I know my cockatoo vomits in car rides like going to the vet. He seems to not be as bad if I can position him on my lap in the passenger sear such that he can see out the travel cage at the road.
you need a chicken then it sounds like
my wife apparently had one at some point. almost pecked her eye out apparently.
Apparently, according to someone else here, chickens don’t get motion sick as easily, so they likely don’t suffer from the same kind of seasickness as mammals.
Okay, the caveats. I’ve never sailed on the ocean. Nor have I taken my birds out fishing. So, no first hand anecdotes, alas.
That being said, chickens aren’t prone to motion sickness of any type. And, because of their gyroscope heads, aren’t going to suffer the usual disparity between balance/motion sensing organs and visual input that’s the big cause of seasickness.
Chickens have been transported by boat all through their history as livestock, with no significant issues directly from being asea/afloat.
So, overall, even if they aren’t totally immune to some degree of difficulty with water travel, it wouldn’t be seasickness, but some other issue with similar symptoms.
Both of my birds have travelled by car multiple times. Our hen used to go visit my sister’s household almost daily via car. Zero issues. Can’t say anything about ducks, but chickens shouldn’t get sick when properly secured in a car
I would argue that chickens are less prone to motion sickness, not immune. Found a relevant response from an alleged animal behavourist on JustAnswer, which, considering this diagram I found, seems logical enough since it’s not too different from the inner ear system we’re well-familiar with.
Based on anecdotes and what people have discussed on here so far, I’m inclined to believe that for the most part, birds are not as affected by motion sickness as us humans (not necessarily because their heads can stabilise like chickens) because obviously they gotta manage some pro gamer moves midair when they’re flying without getting vertigo (for flying birds at least), but it doesn’t mean that they are free from it. Staying stationary in a moving vehicle isn’t a phenomenon that occurs regularly in nature nor has it been until a few decades ago.
This is amazing. This started as a silly question, but I’m glad to see real answers. You’re cool.
Amazing! That’s so cool, thank you for answering!
Pretty sure the chicken won’t tell you.
Chickens are notorious for keeping secrets.
It may not tell you verbally, but it might still inform you orally.
What the hell are you doing with chickens?! Poor fucking things, man.
“Now, ya’ll ain’t planning on fuckin’ these chickens are ya?”
https://www.tiktok.com/@captain_spauldingg/video/7244634455091039530
But I suck at sign language :)
Why are you dreaming unpublished Douglas Adams novels?
I’d like to give you an answer.
Mostly unrelated but my cat never seems to get seasick. In fact her sea legs are superior to mine so long as she stays off the slippery table.
You live on a boat? Im a little jealous. I love sailing and have little access to it in a land locked state.
Yep! Going on my fourth year now. Loving every minute except when the wind isn’t playing along (aka this entire year omg I just want to get places 😭)
chickens cant vomit, and thus dont experience nausea, so no they dont get sea sick.
Nausea and the ability to vomit are different things. Horses get sea sick but cannot vomit. So they’re pretty useless for a few days after say, crossing the English channel on a boat.
I have never vomited from sea sickness, but my god have I been sea sick. Mostly just go below deck and nap.
Point is, I think ability to vomit and ability to feel nausea are probably unrelated things.
I had a dream once where I was at work and someone mentioned seeing a chicken on the factory floor. Then someone else mentioned seeing a chicken on the other side of the building. Then one in the bathroom. A little while later it was becoming a little concerning. By break there were so many chickens that the forklifts had to drive slower. Not long after, there were so many that people were sheltering in closets and various small cubbys and such. The lucky ones made it outside before people suffocated from the sheer volume of chickens.
I would imagine not, for the reason the dude claims. Many birds heads act like a gyroscopic stabalizer. I also don’t know if their ears have fluid in them like ours do. That fluid is why we get motion sickness. Animals without that fluid probably don’t have any problems.
chickens can’t vomit.
Im sure sailors keep chickens or at least some egg laying bird that can eat scraps.
They did! In the age of sail where there was little understanding of food preservation and no refrigeration, livestock was routinely kept aboard.
Unfortunately, upon going into battle, clearing for action involved removing said livestock. If there was time and they were lucky, they were set adrift on a boat or barge. Otherwise…
I was on a replica of one of Columbus’ ships (forget which one) but they told us livestock was too valuable to keep in the weather so the humans slept on top, livestock in the hold. The ship was astonishingly small.
So the humans would be the ones dying of exposure. God damn was human life cheap
Yep! OTOH people were way tougher back then. But yeah, human life was cheaper than the livestock. Which kinda makes sense. You don’t know the conditions at your destination, but you’ll need food for the survivors.
I’d rather end up alone with one cow and one bull than 20 mouths to feed and no way to do it. There’s a term, “terrible algebra”, something like that?
Ducks and other water fowl hang out on the water’s surface, I bet there is some truth to this but I am not an ornithologist.
