Ali James' Garden Chickens

[Ali James]

Here you go @BY Bob

Enjoying some freshly cut brambles and blackberries

 

[Ali James]

Charlie looking rather pleased with herself!

 

[Ali James]

And this is Jinx, my beautiful 12 year old cat who I love to bits. He wants to come into the run, not because he wants to get the girls, but because I’m in there and he is jealous!

 

[Ali James]

"We had the egg-laying song belted out loud and clear this morning. Echo might be a bit of an applause junkie..." @Ali James

Haha, that reminds me of what happened this week.

I heard an awful ruckus from the chook run. I went belting outside afraid someone had caught their leg in the chicken wire. No, it was Alice. She was standing in the coop doorway at the top of the ramp singing her egg song for the first time at the top of her voice.

It is the most raucous , out of tune sound I've ever heard from them. I thought she had lost a leg, not laid an egg!

Isn't it hilarious? I assumed the cats were getting to close for comfort and one of the girls was sounding the alarm, But no, just one very smug chook!

 

[Ribh]

Jinx is lovely. I have a tuxedo too ~ only he leaps into the run to join me & makes everyone nervous! Gorgeous pictures & I must share Shadrach's theory on the egg song. He free ranges his girls in Catalonia & has observed that their rooster escorts each lady to her preferred nesting spot. When she is done she calls for him & he escorts her back to the flock ~ more a safety issue than a triumph song.

I also have girls that like to be escorted & will call & someone [usually Soda] will escort them to & fro.

 

[Ali James]

Jinx is lovely. I have a tuxedo too ~ only he leaps into the run to join me & makes everyone nervous! Gorgeous pictures & I must share Shadrach's theory on the egg song. He free ranges his girls in Catalonia & has observed that their rooster escorts each lady to her preferred nesting spot. When she is done she calls for him & he escorts her back to the flock ~ more a safety issue than a triumph song.

I also have girls that like to be escorted & will call & someone [usually Soda] will escort them to & fro.

Jinx is spoilt beyond belief but he is my fur baby and can get away with almost anything!

Interesting theory about the rooster escort; it makes perfect sense from a survival point of view. So the rooster is at the "peck" and "call" of his ladies!

 

[Ribh]

Jinx is spoilt beyond belief but he is my fur baby and can get away with almost anything!

Interesting theory about the rooster escort; it makes perfect sense from a survival point of view. So the rooster is at the "peck" and "call" of his ladies!

My Tuxedo boy, Kirby.
His brother is more tabby & white.​

The rooster has just one job really: to pass his genetics on to the next generation. He does whatever it takes to make that happen. I don't have a rooster. Unhappy past experiences mean I will probably never indulge again however beautiful & alluring they may be, but I am fascinated by flock dynamics. So complicated & a rooster certainly changes things!

 

[Ali James]

Kirby is stunning (and I bet he knows it too!).

As you say, from a survivalist point of view, Roosters are programmed to do anything they can to spread their genes. It makes me think, they must have brilliant memories and intelligence to know where each and everyone of their ladies like to nest, to know who is present, and who needs rounding up etc.

Do you think they are like lions in that they know which cubs are theirs? Would a rooster know whether any chicks are 'his'? Do they tolerate chicks that have been produced by another rooster? Or am I waaaaayy overthinking things?!

 

[Ribh]

Kirby is stunning (and I bet he knows it too!).

Yes, he does!

As you say, from a survivalist point of view, Roosters are programmed to do anything they can to spread their genes. It makes me think, they must have brilliant memories and intelligence to know where each and everyone of their ladies like to nest, to know who is present, and who needs rounding up etc.

Do you think they are like lions in that they know which cubs are theirs? Would a rooster know whether any chicks are 'his'? Do they tolerate chicks that have been produced by another rooster? Or am I waaaaayy overthinking things?!

The person to talk to about that is @Shadrach. Not everyone agrees with his observations but he has 3 *tribes* & tells some funny stories of hen's sneaking behind their rooster's back to mate with a different rooster & how the rooster will often mate immediately after egg laying which ensures his genes are the fertilising ones. I don't think roosters can tell if chicks aren't theirs but like I said, I don't have a rooster so I can't say from personal experience.

 

[Shadrach]

Hello @Ali James.
Chickens are intelligent. The secret lies not in the size of their brain but the neuron firing rate. There have been studies that have tried to calculate the rate increase compared to humans. 30x faster seems to be a popular guesstimate. It is apparently similar in birds. The ability to make the calculations necessary for flight; take off and landing particularly has puzzled aeronautic engineers for years. The most sophisticated jet is a dodo by comparison.
Current science has it that chickens can remember 109 different individuals and allocate rank and more importantly, assign a history to that individual. Basically they are as smart as we are but with different skill sets relevant to their biology and environment.
Roosters usually imprint new chicks. I have often wondered if they know if the chick is there genetic offspring. I have not had the opportunity to study this with the tribes here because the tribes roosters are always the fathers of the chicks. I'm inclined to believe that they do know but I have absolutely no evidence to support this.
Mother hens are able to tell their chicks from another hens. I've had more than one hen out and about with chicks on a number of occasions so chicks are not just chicks to them.
If a hen can discriminate between her chicks and another hens then discrimination of that type I would think is general to chickens.