This has to be one of the more bizarre science projects undertaken. At the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Skara a research team headed by Patrick Zimmerman is studying the meaning of true bliss for chickens. They are doing this with an experiment where they prepare the chickens for a pleasant and an unpleasant event using a particular acoustic signal.

In one case the sound is followed by the chickens being released into a yard where meal worms are waiting for them. In case of the second sound the chickens are hosed down with water. The research team has observed that the chickens who know that they will get the meal worms begin to flap their wings and clean their feathers while clucking.

While the ones anticipating a cold shower were more subdued and hardly clucked. The research team feels that the chickens don’t just want to be fed but also want to actively participate in the worm hunt. They look forward to the process and find it a pleasurable one which they do not mind repeating.

Of course the chickens may not be all that keen on getting fed if the meal worms keep showing up even before they have a chance to digest the last one, but that may be the makings of another science project altogether. Would you be interested in conducting this one about over feeding chickens?