How Do Chickens See? Color, UV, Night Vision and Glass

Quick answer: chickens see more colors than we do, including ultraviolet light, and with eyes on the sides of their heads they take in about 300 degrees around them. They notice movement and flicker far better than people, but they see less sharp detail, see poorly at night, and, like most birds, cannot reliably tell that clear glass is solid. They often peck at reflections in windows and mirrors because they think it is another chicken.

Watching my hens jerk their heads side to side, you would think they had trouble seeing. It is the opposite. Their eyes are built for a prey animal that needs to spot a hawk, a bug and a dropped crumb all at once, and the head bobbing is part of how they do it.

Chicken Vision vs Human Vision

Field of view, cone and night vision figures come from Lafeber’s avian vet team; the spectrum range is from the poultry breeder Lohmann’s guide to poultry vision.

Can Chickens See Glass?

Not very well. Clear glass gives birds almost nothing to go on: they see straight through it to the yard beyond, or they see a reflection of sky and plants that looks like more open space. Even their ultraviolet vision does not reliably make plain glass visible. Chickens rarely fly fast enough to get hurt the way wild birds do, but a startled hen may still run or flap into a window or a glass door.

What they do see is their own reflection. Windows, the shiny side of a car, a hubcap or a glass patio door can all act as a mirror, and that is why so many of us find a hen tapping away at the back door. Dirty or frosted glass, stickers, or screens make it easier for chickens to read as a solid surface.

Why Do Chickens Peck at Windows and Mirrors?

Most of the time, the chicken thinks the reflection is another bird. A rooster may attack “the rival” over and over, and a hen low in the pecking order may try to boss around the only chicken she can win against. There is no good evidence that chickens recognize themselves in a mirror.

Some chickens just like to peck at shiny things, or at bugs on the glass. If a bird is wearing herself out or hurting her beak, cover the lower part of the window or move whatever is causing the reflection. On the flip side, a small mirror can comfort a lonely chick or a single chicken.

Can Chickens See Color?

Yes, and better than we can. Humans have three types of color cones (red, green and blue). Chickens have four, adding one for ultraviolet light, which makes them tetrachromats. Their cones also contain tiny colored oil droplets that act like filters to sharpen color. Researchers at Princeton found the different cone types are laid out in an unusually orderly intertwined mosaic.

Chickens also have double cones, which help them detect motion. That is why a hen can spot a tiny beetle moving in the grass long before I do.

Can Chickens See Ultraviolet Light?

Yes. UV vision helps chickens forage and recognize each other, since feathers, combs and many seeds and insects reflect UV in ways we cannot see. To a chicken, two hens that look identical to you may look quite different.

Can Chickens See in the Dark?

Not well. Chickens have fewer rods, the cells that work in dim light, than we do, so they see worse than people at dusk and very little in the dark. That is why they head to the roost as the sun goes down and sit still all night. It also explains why you can pick a chicken up off the roost at night much more easily than during the day. See how much sleep chickens need for more on their night routine.

Chickens also sense light in another way. Some light passes through the skull and reaches the pineal gland and hypothalamus, which help set their body clock and egg laying cycle.

How Far Can Chickens See?

Chickens can spot movement a long way off. Mine will sound the hawk alarm when the bird is still just a speck in the sky. Fine detail at a distance is another story, because their sharpness is lower than ours. Each eye also has two focus areas in the retina (foveae), one for close work and one for distance.

Why Do Chickens Bob and Tilt Their Heads?

Chickens cannot move their eyes much, so they move their heads instead. When a chicken walks, it holds its head still for a split second, then jerks it forward. Holding the head steady keeps the picture sharp, a bit like a camera on a tripod.

The tilt is about choosing an eye. Each eye works almost independently, and the two sides of the brain specialize. In general the right eye is better at close-up jobs like telling food from grit, while the left eye is better at watching for predators and new things. So when your hen cocks her head and stares at you with one eye, she really is taking a good look.

Do Chickens Notice Flickering Lights?

Yes. Chickens process visual images much faster than we do, so a cheap LED or old fluorescent light that looks steady to you can look like a strobe to them. Flicker has been linked to nervousness and feather pecking. If you light your coop in winter, choose a flicker-free bulb; Lohmann recommends a light frequency of at least 150 Hz.

Do Chickens Have Eyelids?

They have three. Besides upper and lower lids, chickens have a nictitating membrane, a thin third eyelid that sweeps sideways across the eye to clean it and protect it from dust. You can sometimes catch it flashing across when a hen blinks.

Do Baby Chicks Have Good Eyesight?

Yes. Chicks hatch ready to go, with eyes open, and within a day or two they can peck accurately at food, avoid obstacles and follow their mother. Like adults, they are drawn to shiny and moving things, which is why marbles in the waterer help new chicks find the water.

Common Chicken Eye Problems

Good eyesight is a big deal for a prey animal, so check eyes whenever you handle your birds. Watch for:

• Injuries from pecking or a rooster’s spurs. Flockmates may keep pecking at a wound, so separate an injured bird.
• Swelling, bubbles or discharge, often a sign of a respiratory infection. See why your chicken is sneezing.
• Scabby lesions around the eye, which can be avian pox.
• A gray, irregular pupil, a classic sign of Marek’s disease, which can cause blindness.
• Cloudiness, which can be a cataract in older birds.

For minor scratches I rinse the eye with saline and keep the hen apart from the flock while it heals. Anything that is not clearly improving in a day or two needs an avian vet. A blind chicken struggles to find food and water, so act quickly. Our list of signs a chicken is sick covers what else to look for.

Once you understand how chickens see, a lot of their behavior makes sense: the head bobbing, the one-eyed stare, the panic at a shadow overhead and the hen pecking at the patio door. If you want to know why that wide-angle, motion-tuned vision makes them so jumpy, read what chickens are afraid of.

Frequently Asked Questions