My neighbor's kid asked why the rooster crows at dawn...

I was out feeding my flock last Saturday when the 8 year old from next door wandered over and asked if the rooster just wakes up grumpy... I laughed but then he said 'does he know it's morning or does he just decide to yell?'... It hit me different because I've been keeping chickens for 5 years and never really thought about their internal clock. Now I'm down a rabbit hole reading about circadian rhythms in birds. Has anyone else had a question from a kid that made you see your flock totally different?

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rowan_wells6713h ago

Oh man, the "does he just decide to yell" part really got me. I had a similar thing happen when my niece asked if chickens dream. At the time I was like "probably not" but then I actually watched them sleeping one night and noticed their heads twitching and soft little clucks. Now I've got a whole notepad of observations. For the rooster thing specifically, I actually tested it once by covering the coop window one night and uncovering it at random times. Turns out they've got that internal clock thing but light definitely kicks it off faster. Your neighbor kid asking that made me realize I've been taking for granted how weird and smart these birds actually are.