Lacey may seem like just another pet chicken on Emily Carrington's farm in British Columbia, but she has a title that her farmmates do not: the Guinness World Record holder.

Carrington, a veterinarian living on Gabriola Island, began teaching Lacey and her other chickens how to recognize letters and simple shapes last year, and found that they are quick learners.

Carrington said, "If I present two options in front of them, they walk and choose the option that I taught them to peck at, ignoring the other options," adding that she rewards the correct answer with a little treat of grains, bread, or fruit.

After teaching her chickens how to pick out the alphabet letters, she contacted the staff at Guinness World Records about competing for the title of most tricks performed by a chicken. She received the green light to bring in witnesses and independent videographers to document the attempt in early April.

Carrington said, "At first, I thought recording would be a fun thing, but mostly, it's a way to present the chicken - who gets a certain kind of admiration in many ways - this award for being really good at something that perhaps people didn’t know they could do at all."

On test day, Lacey was able to correctly pick six consecutive letters.

Carrington added, "So I ran two or three chickens through a series of tricks, and it happened that day that Lacey was a little faster, and a little more accurate than the others. She's a beautiful little chicken, but she doesn’t really differ from the other hens or any other chicken. It's likely that all chickens have the ability to do these things."

After submitting video evidence, it became official last week. Chicken Lacey was named the Guinness World Record holder in a brand new category: the most recognitions by a chicken in one minute. Carrington says this category more appropriately reflects what Lacey can do than the tricks category.

She continued, "When they changed it to identification, so that she could distinguish between letters, they are showing the intelligence of the chicken and her ability to choose. So I love that they changed that. Now Lacey has her own category."

She hopes that Lacey's achievement will open people's eyes to what chickens can do.

Carrington said, "We all know that crows are very, very smart, and parrots can talk, but I don’t think anyone has stopped to think about chickens very much."

After mastering the alphabet, Lacey and the other chickens will soon move to a nearby farm to enjoy their golden years.

Carrington said, "I think I have learned all I can with this group of chickens. So the chickens will go live out their retirement in that beautiful space."

But only one of them can brag about being the world record holder.