Lacey holds the title for most identifications by a chicken in one minute
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
A chicken from Gabriola Island, B.C., is one of the newest Guiness world record holders.
Lacey, who lives on veterinarian Emily Carrington’s property, recently entered the Guiness world record books in a category all to herself – most identifications by a chicken in one minute.
On testing day in April, with two official timers, two different videos and two witnesses to see the feat, Lacey identified six consecutive letters in 60 seconds.
Carrington began teaching Lacey and other chickens to identify letters, shapes and objects last year.
“If I present two choices in front of them, they walk over and they pick the one that I’ve taught them to peck at, and they ignore the other ones,” she told CTV News.
A correct guess by the chickens earned them a reward.
When Carrington contacted Guiness about the record attempt, it was originally for most tricks done by a chicken.
But the record keepers changed the category to identification.
“When they changed it to identification, so being able to tell letters apart, they are featuring the chicken’s intelligence and its ability to make choices. So I love that they changed that,” Carrington told CTV.
Farm animals and livestock aren’t strangers to the pages of the Guiness world record books.
Here are a few examples.
In January 2024, two Italian pigs set a record for the fastest time to pull 10 socks from a foot and place them in a washing machine.
Pongo and Iris Brun completed the feat in 1:55.
In July 2023, a Brazilian cow named Mara sold for £3.3 million (CAD$5.8 million) at auction – making her the most expensive cow sold at an auction.
“Mara (Viatina-19 FIV Mara Imóveis) is a 53-month-old cow of the Nelore breed, a breed known for its ability to adapt to tropical climates as well as its resistance to diseases,” the record says.
An Australian pig holds the record for the longest dive.
In 2005, Miss Piggy jumped 3.31m (10ft. 10in) into a pool with a depth of 86.5cm (34in.)
The record is based on the dive from the end of the board to where the snout lands in the water.
And a Canadian cow holds the record for the greatest milk yield by a cow during its lifetime.
Smurf, who passed away in 2018, lived on a farm in Embrun, Ont.
During her lifetime, she produced 478,163 pounds of milk – that’s about 83 pounds, or 150 cups of milk per day.