Raising hens: A nature writer celebrates the humble chicken

Sy Montgomery fell in love with the chickens she raised. In “What the Chicken Knows,” she reflects on their sociability and barnyard smarts. 

One of the first things you learn in Sy Montgomery’s latest book is that roosters respond well to cuddling. Pick them up, talk to them, wrap their feet in a towel – to protect from their sharp spurs – and put them on your hip during chores. And, voilà! A friendlier fowl. 

Chickens are in need of a little extra love these days. Like dogs, they, too, have been frequently surrendered to shelters in recent years.

But “What the Chicken Knows,” like so many of the author’s previous works, is less about what separates humans and animals, and more about what brings them together. 

Perhaps best known for “The Soul of an Octopus,” a National Book Award finalist, Montgomery has established herself as a natural teacher. She has written more than 30 books for adults and children, with more on the way. Readers have come to know that they can live vicariously through her: She is singularly unafraid of embracing wild things.

Which brings us to the chickens. Montgomery, a vegetarian, spent years at her New Hampshire farmhouse raising them, enjoying them, feeding them cottage cheese – and popcorn at Christmas. She describes them as “elegant, intelligent, supremely social.” Many of the details in the book focus on their smarts – their ability to be trained, to recognize more than 100 other chickens, to appreciate classical music. 

Her journey in the Chicken Universe, as she calls it, starts with the gift from a friend of 12 chicks. Eventually, as the flock grows, she begins referring to them affectionately as “the Ladies.” 

“They took to following me everywhere,” she writes. “If I was hanging out the laundry, they would check what was in the laundry basket. If I was weeding a flower bed, they would join me, raking the soil with their strong scaly feet.” She suspects they thought she was digging for worms.

Over the years, her flock bonds with her neighbors, teaches her lessons, and, as one would expect in a chicken book, crosses the road. Sadly, but not surprisingly, Montgomery’s hens are occasionally taken out by predators, which become more abundant in her state as her years of husbandry progress.

“What the Chicken Knows” is a small volume – a repackaging of a chapter from her 2010 work, “Birdology.” She’s added an introduction (wherein a fellow chicken lover shares the rooster cuddling tip with her) and other material, including updates on what has happened with her flock. Other chapters from “Birdology,” on hummingbirds and hawks, have also been made into stand-alone books. 

All together, the latest offering makes for an informative, bite-sized survey on living with and understanding chickens. It may even prompt readers to follow in Montgomery’s footsteps and collect their own bird observations. “The longer I watch them,” she says, “the more clearly I see how rich and varied their lives are, as fraught and joyous and changeable as our own.”