CBC⁠49%

What the cluck was that? Scientists turn to AI to decode what chickens are saying ⁠27%

By Vanessa Caldwell⁠0%

1/29/2026, 7:01:01 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 21 faulty reasoning types, including Optimism Bias, Appeal to Authority, and Hasty Generalization, with Ambiguity (Equivocation) as the most egregious example at 29.6% saturation with 68 hits. Analysis detected 482 faulty-reasoning hits from 230 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 38.3% and a BS Rank of ⁠27% (16,088 of 21,887 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 73.50% of the article peer group.

In Nova Scotia, livestock scientist Suresh Neethirajan is using technology to decode chickens’ complex mode of communication. 
Neethirajan and his students at Dalhousie University record every squawk, cluck and chirp made by a flock of chickens, while cameras simultaneously capture the birds’ movements. 
The researchers also use thermal imaging to track the animals’ body temperature, which can indicate stress. 
In this clip from Cluck! 
Chickens Exposed, a documentary from The Nature of Things, Neethirajan explains how he and his team used AI to sift through four months of recordings. 
Together, the information can show the context of the sounds being made and give meaning to what the chickens are communicating. 
“So we can listen to the variety of calls made [in] different contexts and understand the buried emotions behind these calls,” he says in the film. 
In the documentary Cluck! 
Chickens Exposed, Suresh Neethirajan shows examples of some of the birds’ sounds and the meaning behind them. 
He believes a tool could help translate exchanges between chickens and humans. 
In the future, farmers could use their chickens’ calls to monitor them and adjust conditions to improve their well-being. 
“The happy bird is a productive bird,” Neethirajan says. 
Learn more in Cluck! 
Chickens Exposed, now streaming on CBC Gem and The Nature of Things YouTube channel. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 3.9%Vanessa Caldwell: 2.9%CBC: 2.6%Confirmation Bias3.9%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.1%CBC: 0.7%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 4.0%CBC: 3.1%Availability Heuristic0.0%This article: 3.9%Vanessa Caldwell: 1.1%CBC: 1.1%Representativeness Heuristic3.9%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.3%CBC: 1.0%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 11.3%Vanessa Caldwell: 2.2%CBC: 1.4%Overconfidence Bias11.3%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 3.1%CBC: 4.2%Framing Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.0%CBC: 0.6%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 4.3%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.3%CBC: 0.6%Status Quo Bias4.3%This article: 10.9%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.4%CBC: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect10.9%This article: 22.6%Vanessa Caldwell: 3.6%CBC: 4.0%Optimism Bias22.6%This article: 8.3%Vanessa Caldwell: 2.6%CBC: 1.4%Pessimism Bias8.3%This article: 2.2%Vanessa Caldwell: 10.3%CBC: 5.7%Negativity Bias2.2%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.3%CBC: 1.2%Self-Serving Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 1.1%CBC: 0.9%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.3%CBC: 0.2%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 1.1%CBC: 1.2%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.9%CBC: 0.3%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 7.4%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.5%CBC: 3.6%Halo Effect7.4%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.2%CBC: 0.1%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.0%CBC: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 8.3%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.3%CBC: 1.2%Recency Bias8.3%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.4%CBC: 0.4%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.0%CBC: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.0%CBC: 0.4%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.0%CBC: 0.2%Straw Man0.0%This article: 15.2%Vanessa Caldwell: 2.8%CBC: 3.7%Appeal to Authority15.2%This article: 5.2%Vanessa Caldwell: 1.4%CBC: 1.3%False Dilemma5.2%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.2%CBC: 0.4%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.0%CBC: 0.2%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 15.2%Vanessa Caldwell: 7.6%CBC: 4.8%Hasty Generalization15.2%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.0%CBC: 0.2%Red Herring0.0%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.0%CBC: 0.6%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 11.3%Vanessa Caldwell: 3.6%CBC: 4.2%Appeal to Emotion11.3%This article: 9.1%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.5%CBC: 0.6%Begging the Question9.1%This article: 8.3%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.6%CBC: 2.5%Post Hoc (False Cause)8.3%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.0%CBC: 0.0%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.5%CBC: 0.3%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.3%CBC: 0.3%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.7%CBC: 0.3%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 11.3%Vanessa Caldwell: 3.4%CBC: 3.3%Anecdotal11.3%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.0%CBC: 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 29.6%Vanessa Caldwell: 2.6%CBC: 1.6%Ambiguity (Equivocation)29.6%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.0%CBC: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.0%CBC: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.0%CBC: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.7%CBC: 0.1%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.0%CBC: 0.1%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 11.3%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.7%CBC: 1.1%Unattributed Quote11.3%This article: 2.2%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.6%CBC: 0.8%Quote-first Misdirection2.2%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 4.2%CBC: 4.8%Biased Writer Voice0.0%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.7%CBC: 2.4%Indoctrination0.0%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.0%CBC: 0.4%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Vanessa Caldwell: 0.0%CBC: 0.1%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 7.8%Vanessa Caldwell: 3.2%CBC: 1.7%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…7.8%

230 words analyzed.

Speakers

1speaker57%attributed speech98writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 5 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 0.0% coverageSuresh Neethirajan • 17 words • 0.0% coverageSuresh Neethirajan • 26 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 16 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 5 words • 0.0% coverageSuresh Neethirajan • 25 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 0.0% coverageSuresh Neethirajan • 26 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 4 words • 0.0% coverageSuresh Neethirajan • 17 words • 0.0% coverageSuresh Neethirajan • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 19 words • 0.0% coverageSuresh Neethirajan • 9 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 4 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 14 words • 100.0% coverage
Selected voice

Suresh Neethirajan

87%flagged-word coverage
132 attributed words100% of attributed speech100% writer coverage
0%10.0%20.0%Unattributed Quote+19.7 ptsWriter: 0.0%Suresh Neethirajan: 19.7%19.7%Attempt to Sell a Product -18.4 ptsWriter: 18.4%Suresh Neethirajan: 0.0%0.0%Quote-first Misdirection-5.1 ptsWriter: 5.1%Suresh Neethirajan: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.