Farm animals may be dumb, but they are definitely not stupid, scientists say.
While the humble hen can master complex tricks, sheep have been found to react to facial expressions and, like humans, seen to prefer a smile to a grimace, research has said.
Findings offer compelling evidence that creatures caricatured as mindlessly dumb can actually feel emotions usually associated with humans - such as jealousy, love and loss.
Some animals are even crafty enough to hatch Machiavellian plots worthy of those who stalk the corridors of Whitehall, reported Guardian Unlimited.
Scientists at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge have discovered that sheep possess a sharp sense of individuality and can remember the faces of at least 10 people and 50 other sheep for at least two years.
Further studies, which involved tests, show that sheep mourn absent individuals, reinforcing the notion that they are more like humans than previously believed.
Researchers at Bristol University have found that pigs were found to have a cerebral capacity beyond popular preconception.
They were found to be masters of deceit, deliberately misleading other pigs if it would result in more food for them.
{{/usCountry}}They were found to be masters of deceit, deliberately misleading other pigs if it would result in more food for them.
{{/usCountry}}Chicken, however, command an extraordinary degree of self-control over food.
They are willing to delay gratification if they think a larger portion will be offered in due course.
Other research found that the chicken boast a greater sense of spatial awareness than young children and also proved that they could learn tricks such as opening doors and navigating mazes with a speed usually seen in dogs and horses.
Similarly the cow, often viewed by modern society as little more than a benign food source, has also shown to be an astute animal capable of solving riddles with an intellect traditionally more associated with an ape.
Studies at the Oxford University found that Betty, a Caledonian heifer, instinctively bent a piece of wire, using a gap in her food tray to create a hook that allowed her to scrape food from the bottom of a jar.
Scores of scientists and government delegates from 43 countries will soon be attending a conference in London to discuss whether the society's attitude to animals needs re-examining.
They will also hear how wood mice build their own signposts, using sticks and stones to mark sites where food is abundant or mark shortcuts back to their burrow.
The reputation of parrots as purveyors of a broad vocabulary has been reinforced with one study that saw a grey parrot mastering 1,000 words and learnt to communicate in a manner that would shame some British adults.
Parrots, when shown two different objects, can use language to describe differences in their colour, shape and texture.
They are believed to have an intellect comparable to a five-year-old human and the conference will hear how potential parrot owners must consider buying one as adopting a small child.
Similarly, new evidence suggests that fish earlier known to have a three-second memory, can be highly manipulative and cultured.
Elephants can make graves by breaking branches to cover their dead colleagues. They also have a large hippocampus, the part of the brain that stores mental maps.