Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[galanie]

Ya gotta remember, a lot of newbies (like I was myself almost 5 years ago) have flocks with no rooster so the girls do act differently. My roosterless coop was easy to catch for two years because they would squat for me if I even looked at them. I don't think I've ever seen a girl squat when not at least mostly mature enough to lay an egg, so that's probably where the 'ready to lay an egg' thing came from. /shrug.. 

Before I ever had a rooster my Big Girl would squat for me and so would a few others. Once I had one, they quit doing that. Now that I'm again roosterless, that one does it. And I give her a scratch, and she gets up and shakes just like if she had been mated. I do it cause it makes me laugh.

Anyway I'm suggesting that perhaps a flock with no rooster does do this? I only have my own tiny flock to go my for experience and even then, not very many years, so of course I could be way off.

Apologies to Al, Bee, Walt, and all the real OT's for beating this dead horse. You guys said No Way and here I am saying "but"..

PS - yes, she is a BO..

 

[Beekissed]

Chickens give themselves a shake pretty much after any contact that rearranges their feathers..being picked up, being scratched, in particular, being mated. This is an instinctual grooming mechanism to keep feathers aligned and protective of their bodies. If you merely stroke their backs lightly and no feathers have been moved, they usually don't shake...just politely walk away.

Birds that are used to being stooped over and picked up will be conditioned to duck/squat when a person passes by. You can also see this a lot in flock with small children that have been allowed to just run and pick up a bird any time they wish. Also, birds kept in pens or runs will sometimes lose their natural flight response to being picked up or touched by humans because they know that running is futile, so they just drop to avoid the inevitable contact...it's their only recourse in their confined existence.

Thus the negative posts about breeds such as Leghorns being "too flighty"....this is often from people who just don't like it when a bird will still try to run away from them when stooped upon. Buff Orps, on the other hand, are the BYC favorite because they will stop, drop and roll for simply ANYONE, anywhere, and under any circumstances. They are seen as "friendly" and docile....they are merely birds with little survival instinct and are too fat to run, in most cases.

There is a big leaning on BYC towards humanizing these birds or imagining that we humans are their flock mates and can cause them to treat us as equals in their flock. It's nice, I imagine, to think that we have some special bond with these birds...I've had a few quirky chickens myself that didn't act like a regular chicken that led me to think, for a moment or two, that we had a meeting of the minds and hearts.

But that isn't natural..nice..but not the true nature of the chicken. It's an exception to the rule...and I rather prefer the rule. That chickens are merely chickens, they have their own lives and social structure outside of my world...and this is only fair and natural. Who would want to mess with that?

 

[qball53]

hope this is a better pic of eye -

Not disagreeing with anyone here .... as I don't know. However my wife who has had many, many more birds than I, does try to treat this. She squeezes the gunk from the eye as mentioned and administers Tylan, 1-2cc. Sometimes a second treatment, then the bird gets over it or we cull.

 

[TonySorrento]

Chickens give themselves a shake pretty much after any contact that rearranges their feathers..being picked up, being scratched, in particular, being mated.  This is an instinctual grooming mechanism to keep feathers aligned and protective of their bodies.  If you merely stroke their backs lightly and no feathers have been moved, they usually don't shake...just politely walk away.    Birds that are used to being stooped over and picked up will be conditioned to duck/squat when a person passes by.  You can also see this a lot in flock with small children that have been allowed to just run and pick up a bird any time they wish.  Also, birds kept in pens or runs will sometimes lose their natural flight response to being picked up or touched by humans because they know that running is futile, so they just drop to avoid the inevitable contact...it's their only recourse in their confined existence.     Thus the negative posts about breeds such as Leghorns being "too flighty"....this is often from people who just don't like it when a bird will still try to run away from them when stooped upon.  Buff Orps, on the other hand, are the BYC favorite because they will stop, drop and roll for simply ANYONE, anywhere, and under any circumstances.  They are seen as "friendly" and docile....they are merely birds with little survival instinct and are too fat to run, in most cases.    There is a big leaning on BYC towards humanizing these birds or imagining that we humans are their flock mates and can cause them to treat us as equals in their flock.  It's nice, I imagine, to think that we have some special bond with these birds...I've had a few quirky chickens myself that didn't act like a regular chicken that led me to think, for a moment or two, that we had a meeting of the minds and hearts.    But that isn't natural..nice..but not the true nature of the chicken.  It's an exception to the rule...and I rather prefer the rule.  That chickens are merely chickens, they have their own lives and social structure outside of my world...and this is only fair and natural.  Who would want to mess with that?   

Great post ... and so true .... if people realized their chickens didn't love them because they follow them around or come up to them, I think we would lose a few members to depression ....lol

Psst.... they just want what food you might have.... selfish suckers

 

[galanie]

Chickens give themselves a shake pretty much after any contact that rearranges their feathers..being picked up, being scratched, in particular, being mated.  This is an instinctual grooming mechanism to keep feathers aligned and protective of their bodies.  If you merely stroke their backs lightly and no feathers have been moved, they usually don't shake...just politely walk away. 

Birds that are used to being stooped over and picked up will be conditioned to duck/squat when a person passes by.  You can also see this a lot in flock with small children that have been allowed to just run and pick up a bird any time they wish.  Also, birds kept in pens or runs will sometimes lose their natural flight response to being picked up or touched by humans because they know that running is futile, so they just drop to avoid the inevitable contact...it's their only recourse in their confined existence.  

Thus the negative posts about breeds such as Leghorns being "too flighty"....this is often from people who just don't like it when a bird will still try to run away from them when stooped upon.  Buff Orps, on the other hand, are the BYC favorite because they will stop, drop and roll for simply ANYONE, anywhere, and under any circumstances.  They are seen as "friendly" and docile....they are merely birds with little survival instinct and are too fat to run, in most cases. 

There is a big leaning on BYC towards humanizing these birds or imagining that we humans are their flock mates and can cause them to treat us as equals in their flock.  It's nice, I imagine, to think that we have some special bond with these birds...I've had a few quirky chickens myself that didn't act like a regular chicken that led me to think, for a moment or two, that we had a meeting of the minds and hearts. 

But that isn't natural..nice..but not the true nature of the chicken.  It's an exception to the rule...and I rather prefer the rule.  That chickens are merely chickens, they have their own lives and social structure outside of my world...and this is only fair and natural.  Who would want to mess with that? 

 

Thank you for that. It makes complete, perfect sense. Oh yes, I'll continue to scratch and chuckle at the one hen, but the rest I do leave alone. I figure if they don't want to be touched, then I just won't touch them. People talk about their friendly birds loving hugs, etc. but from my experience that's only because they've been mauled over so much by humans as they were growing up. Yeah, not real natural. Nor is my BO but that's ok. She makes me laugh.

 

[stonykill]

Chickens give themselves a shake pretty much after any contact that rearranges their feathers..being picked up, being scratched, in particular, being mated. This is an instinctual grooming mechanism to keep feathers aligned and protective of their bodies. If you merely stroke their backs lightly and no feathers have been moved, they usually don't shake...just politely walk away.

Birds that are used to being stooped over and picked up will be conditioned to duck/squat when a person passes by. You can also see this a lot in flock with small children that have been allowed to just run and pick up a bird any time they wish. Also, birds kept in pens or runs will sometimes lose their natural flight response to being picked up or touched by humans because they know that running is futile, so they just drop to avoid the inevitable contact...it's their only recourse in their confined existence.

Thus the negative posts about breeds such as Leghorns being "too flighty"....this is often from people who just don't like it when a bird will still try to run away from them when stooped upon. Buff Orps, on the other hand, are the BYC favorite because they will stop, drop and roll for simply ANYONE, anywhere, and under any circumstances. They are seen as "friendly" and docile....they are merely birds with little survival instinct and are too fat to run, in most cases.

There is a big leaning on BYC towards humanizing these birds or imagining that we humans are their flock mates and can cause them to treat us as equals in their flock. It's nice, I imagine, to think that we have some special bond with these birds...I've had a few quirky chickens myself that didn't act like a regular chicken that led me to think, for a moment or two, that we had a meeting of the minds and hearts.

But that isn't natural..nice..but not the true nature of the chicken. It's an exception to the rule...and I rather prefer the rule. That chickens are merely chickens, they have their own lives and social structure outside of my world...and this is only fair and natural. Who would want to mess with that?

well said and a pet peeve of mine. "Ohh my chickens aren't friendly.... they don't like it when I try to hug and squeeze and kiss and love on them"

GOOD! They are chickens acting like chickens!

 

[TonySorrento]

I seriously think chickens are just cats with feathers .... they do everything for their own benefit ... lol .. I love both too!

 

[Beekissed]

Whenever I post such ideas, I usually am hit with posts implying that I just don't spend quality time with my flock or I would notice these special things about chickens. One doesn't raise chickens for this long and not spend quality time with the flock....not if they want to maintain a healthy flock. I'm also a student of animal and human behavior...I love to watch them interact and try to interpret their actions.

But I park my sentimentality at the door when I observe and try to view these beings from an objective standpoint. As much as I love chickens and mine in particular, I love creatures being able to be their natural selves. I love my dogs being able to live outside,not on a chain or in a kennel. I love that they wrestle, smell the various outside scents, patrol for predators and intruders, eat nasty things, have their natural body smells, dig when they want....all the things that make them truly dog is not being impaired by my emotional need to have them close, in my house and on my lap in adoration of me, within constant touching range of me.

These animals have a natural life span and do better, IMO, when allowed to live without constant interference from us humans....how would we like it if someone changed our life so drastically to fit their own? You may tolerate it, make the best of it, but you sure won't feel free or content to be who you really are.

To me it's such an oxymoron for animal lovers to profess this deep love for animals but then proceed to trap them indoors, bathe them constantly so their odors won't offend(removes their natural oils and scent...you might as well just slap them around in a dog's mind), pour poison on their backs so that a single flea won't be introduced into the human's box/trap, don't allow them to adapt their fur coats to seasonal changes in weather, never let them stay outside at night~the best time in life for a predator..ever~won't let them enjoy being outside for the change of the seasons, the change of scent patterns in the air, for interaction with their natural outside environment, for hunting, for exploring, for playing, for rubbing their backs in a fresh fallen snow, for sunning themselves and smelling simply everything that goes on outside. How could they do that to the very beings they profess to love?

Same thoughts I feel when I read about chickens in diapers. How in the world could someone DO that to that poor animal and call it love?

Sorry....just had to come out of me today.

 

[loanwizard]

Now just a cotton pickin minute! My chickens are quite tame. I have trained them to know which pocket holds which treats. They know my left front pocket is off limits, that my right front holds chocolate and marshmallows, and that my left breast pocket is the maggot pocket. I carry rotten meat around for that express purpose. They will jump through a hoop to get the treat. I also have them trained so that when I make the egg motion, they lay their egg right then and there. I don't like to wait on my eggs so I developed my own trademarked Egg Motion, that indicates squat and pop out an egg. I had some white leghorns, but they were too flighty, so I culled them. My buff (Blond) Orps were the hardest to train, but after I get them to lay, they walk home... to the roost.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

I have to agree with that 100%. I think humans just aren't in touch with their own instincts and must be taught everything. Like children...do not make a grrrr face at the dog. My mil, do not growl noise at a 200lb dog, why are you doing that? Do you remember when you crowed at my rooster what happened? You do not want to challenge / threaten any animal that can easily kill you....I'm baffled. Maybe people think it's fun to trigger instincts in an animal and get some sort of reaction....just be careful what you are triggering please. The only thing I can think of with that hen, may be an unformed shelless egg, which I've never seen,but I guess it could happen, or if there is a rooster around, it could be something else. :/