I concentrated a several broods of chicks and juveniles (8 broods total with 3 associated with broody hens) numbering about 50 that are kept in a series of pens forming a straight nearly 75 yards long. The arrangement is in response to fox issue where chickens are now concentrated in area the dogs can easily see and reach when the fox comes in. The fox comes in a lot going mostly after rabbits. The chickens are penned most of day until about 3 hours before dark when they are released to forage. When they first get out, each group has an established route / range they forage. Immediately upon release they target plants but quickly transition to consuming insects. They more comparatively rapidly over the more tightly mowed area to catch the relatively easy to spot insects and spend little time in a given spot. As they get into areas further away from pens, they periodically slow down in patches where they are clearly catching a lot more and often larger insects. When those patches are reached they begin twittering a lot more talking to each other within a social group. They do it in short grass, and they do it when getting into the heavy brush. It is when they do the "twitter bitting" that that rapidly fill their crops. Sometimes a given location is loaded with grasshoppers, or crickets, or caterpillars, or ants. When in short grass they are targeting some sort of maggot. The uptick in sound production can be heard from as far as 50 feet away.
