I was out working in the yard this afternoon when I glanced up and saw a sharp shinned hawk fly in over the trees that border my yard.  The pine trees are about 35 feet tall and the hawk was just over the tree tops.  About 150 feet in front of it was the chicken pen.  The hawk was not dallying, but before he got over the chickens (he/she was not after one), a rooster let out an alarm call.  No big deal, right?  

Then I got to thinking ... chickens have been domesticated for between 3,000 and 4,000 years, give or take a thousand here or there.  Their genes have been messed with to the nth degree, but this rooster can still give an alert based on a shape flying overhead.  I am almost certain that this was not a learned behavior because I don't think we have ever lost a chicken to a hawk.  I guess the genetic memory of a death threat is hard to lose.

Jim Wilson
Queenstown, MD