Do chickens have taste buds?

It
’s been more than eight years, now, since I wrote my first
column answering questions about pets. I always wanted to do this,
ever since I was a kid. I read Dr. Frank Miller’s daily column in a
San Francisco paper. He was a vet with a question/answer forum
discussing animal health. People love
to talk about their pets, so he always had something to write.
And for eight years, I have never had a shortage of good ideas!
Besides getting cards and letters, I’ve been asked questions in the
grocery store, at the park or a restaurant, even at the theater as
Peg and I waited to get in. We neve
r know when we might meet somebody with a question or a story
about their furry friend. Once in a while, someone asks a really
unique question. Something unusual. This happened last weekend
while I was walking with my friend, Bill, through the Morgan Hill
Flea Market. We go there every week, partly
to search for bargains, but mainly just to see Jim and Bob and
all of our friends. While we search for some old tool or
knick-knack, we talk about anything and everything, including
animals. This past week, the conversation somehow turned to
chickens. A friend’s chicken had stopped eating after
this fellow brought home a bag of feed from the pet shop. The
hen wasn’t sick …. she just wouldn’t accept the new food. So here’s
this week’s Q
&
amp;A, beginning with an intriguing question about chickens,
asked last weekend at the local flea market. Q: Our neighbor
’s chicken won’t eat the food he recently bought at the feed
store. Why not? Do chickens have taste buds? Do they have any sense
of taste? A: Actually, chickens have a pretty good sense of taste …
or at least some people think so. But not all avian experts agree
on this one. The sense of tas
te and smell go hand-in-hand. And there is a lot of variability
in birds when it comes to smell. Some birds have a tremendous
ability to detect odors. Others rely on their eyes and ears to
survive. Turkey vultures are tops when it comes to olfactory
ability. They can detect the odor of a dead carca
ss even if it’s buried several inches below dirt and leaves. And
some sea birds can smell dead or dying shrimp in water as they fly
over it. This allows these birds to find a fast meal when they’re
hungry. But how well can a chicken detect smells? Just how good are
a chicken’s tastebuds? We r
eally don’t know for sure, but my chickens used to pick through
a mixed bag of feed to eat their favorite seeds. We know chickens
don’t have lips, but I think they have good taste. And its probably
right there on the tip of their tongue. Q: My cat, Wiseguy, was
chasing a bee that stung him las
t night. Now his paw is very swollen. I looked for the stinger
but couldn’t find it. This morning he seems to be acting normal and
eating, but his foot is still pretty big. Should I take him to the
vet’s office or will the swelling go down on it’s own? A: Once in a
while a sting can lead to oth
er problems so I think you should have your kitty’s foot
examined. It’s normal for swelling to come up after a bee sting or
bug bite, but the puffiness usually subsides after eight hours or
less. All animals react differently to stings and bites, and
Wiseguy may be perfectly all right. But prolo
nged swelling, especially to the degree you describe, could
indicate a secondary infection or other problem in his foot.
Swelling actually puts pressure on small blood vessels, partially
blocking their abi
lity to pump blood to the area. Poor circulation could create an
environment for bacteria to start growing. Even minor secondary
infections can become serious problems. So just to be on the safe
side, take your kitty in for a quick check-over. If he has signs of
a developing infection, such as swollen lymph nodes or fever, early
treatment will stop it before it gets out of hand. Now for the
important question. Do you think Wiseguy learned from his lesson?
If he lives up to his name, my bet is he
’ll never get near a bee again. On the other hand, he sounds as
though he is quite a hunter. Very few cats can resist the
temptation to pounce on something like a bug. I hope he doesn’t get
hurt again. Good luck! Pete Keesling is a veterinarian at San
Martin Veterinary Hospital and co-hosts Petp
ourri, a weekly show about pet health on KTEH in San Jose and a
bi-weekly column for The Times. If you have any questions about pet
care, please mail them to The Times, Attn: Vets, 30 E. Third St.,
Morgan Hill, CA 95037.
It’s been more than eight years, now, since I wrote my first column answering questions about pets.