A troubling fact about chickens

Date sort Score sort
Christopher28fair

Christopher28fair

Chirping
10 Years
Aug 14, 2010
9
74
92
As those of us who have had chickens for a few years know, there is an unpleasant fact about chickens that must not be ignored. Chickens can sometimes be afflicted by a sort of schizophrenia, particular to chickens. Yes, one day, when your flock is moseying about the yard, tending to the usual business of ripping up your lawn, or helping rake leaves in their own industrious, yet unfailingly counterproductive way, one of your hens will start to squawk, and she will stand in that place squawking at 110 decibels, without pause, for as long as it takes to alert the surrounding five-square-mile area that something - an unknown something - something unknown to us and unknown to them, is seriously, dangerously wrong in the world. Is it an earthquake in Chile? A mudslide in the Czech Republic? Another 9-2 Phillies loss? We do not know, and they do not know, but they are telling us with a most emphatic and dire warning call that must not be ignored. And then, as suddenly as it began, the squawking is over. The silence is deafening, by comparison. One can hear birds, a dog barking in the distance, a random motorcycle. The moment has passed.
 
You probably are joking, but I think I recently had a legit schizophrenic rooster. I got him as an adult. He was good natured and his only vice was greed. Hed take food before allowing the hens and was just a pig in general. Weighed 18lbs. He was a good boy and let the kids pick him up like a puppy and carry him around, he never objected. I had him for nearly a year then everything changed.

He never had spurs until he was about 1.5 years old. Shortly after that time, he went berserk and began screaming and alarm calling constantly and was aggressive. He killed the alpha. He pecked his hens in the eyes and tore their feathers out when they walked by. He broke a cockrels leg and calmly walked away. He was insane. I'd separate him I'm a cage and he would cockfight the air around him until he was exhausted. He attacked the kids, he attacked me. Eventually I put him down and fed him to the hens he terrorized.
 
I know just what you mean. I have 2 Brahma hens. One went broody suddenly and I got her a couple of eggs to sit on. It didn’t work sadly as she ate one egg and the second died in-shell. However she continued to sit for the 5th week so I got more eggs. 3 weeks later we have 3 chicks and she finally spent a couple of weeks off brood and started laying again with our second Brahma. Then bang, she’s broody again! The other hen must be thinking ‘WTF’ and now stands in the garden squawking until I open the back door and let her in the house with me where she follows me everywhere. This is the only thing that stops her noise. I guess she must be lonely with her pal nesting all the time. It’s driving me nuts as when she is broody she stops laying eggs and so does her pal. There doesn’t seem to be anything you can do to stop the broodyness. It’s causing us all large headaches.
 
Christopher28fair said:
As those of us who have had chickens for a few years know, there is an unpleasant fact about chickens that must not be ignored. Chickens can sometimes be afflicted by a sort of schizophrenia, particular to chickens. Yes, one day, when your flock is moseying about the yard, tending to the usual business of ripping up your lawn, or helping rake leaves in their own industrious, yet unfailingly counterproductive way, one of your hens will start to squawk, and she will stand in that place squawking at 110 decibels, without pause, for as long as it takes to alert the surrounding five-square-mile area that something - an unknown something - something unknown to us and unknown to them, is seriously, dangerously wrong in the world. Is it an earthquake in Chile? A mudslide in the Czech Republic? Another 9-2 Phillies loss? We do not know, and they do not know, but they are telling us with a most emphatic and dire warning call that must not be ignored. And then, as suddenly as it began, the squawking is over. The silence is deafening, by comparison. One can hear birds, a dog barking in the distance, a random motorcycle. The moment has passed.
Click to expand...
Hilarious! You should write books! I love it. :lau
 
I get this most days. I have no idea what the reasons is, nothing I've tried puts a proper stop to it. They'll even take a break to take a treat and then carry right on. They do it in the house, under bushes, on the drive, it just erupts and that's it.
Tribe 2 here do ti every evening when they go up their favorite tree to roost. They're bantams and don't do it much at any other time. that's the only hint I've been able to get so far.
The other one is the mass purr. Your sitting there with them and one starts that quiet bbrrrrrrrrr, like a rough purr. They all stop what they are doing and stand where they are and join in. They won't stop for treats and when I've moved one that has just stopped still in a particularly dangerous location they carry on as soon as I set them down.
I would love to know what both these are about.:confused:
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom