Communal flocking?

[kcpaull]

We've had a small flock of chickens since 2017. They freerange on our property and sometimes go next door to our cousins' houses but they don't seem to mind them being there. Recently, a neighbor across the road got 4 hens and now they show up when we give out scratch grains in the mornings and hang out with our flock until it starts getting dark, then go off home to sleep in their coop. They don't have a rooster so I'm wondering if they come to be with our flock for the protection of numbers and a rooster during the day. The largest raptors around here are Red-tailed Hawks, with the occasional Bald Eagle once a year. There are coyotes, foxes and bobcats, but I've not seen any evidence of them. The only chickens we've lost were to dogs that got out of their pens.

 

[sourland]

Birds of a feather flock together. The hens coming to visit may also be looking for a 'little lovin' '.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Since you have a rooster he's probably wooed them over to join his free ranging harem.

 

[aart]

RoosterWoo....and food.

Wonders how the neighbor feels about their birds in your yard?
I'd not want their birds in my yard.

 

[CHlCKEN]

I would check with the neighbor. Crossing flocks can spread diseases and your neighbor might not want anything from your flock spreading to theirs, and the other way around.

 

[Mmanist]

Since you have a rooster he's probably wooed them over to join his free ranging harem.

I could see my rooster, attempting to wooo my moms hens up over the hill "Hey ladies, look at this tasty morsel!"

 

[CHlCKEN]

I could see my rooster, attempting to wooo my moms hens up over the hill "Hey ladies, look at this tasty morsel!"

It was always my hens bringing the Roo something since he was always so awful at being chivalrous.

 

[Red Mangrove]

Wonders how the neighbor feels about their birds in your yard?
I'd not want their birds in my yard.

Territorial instincts are so odd. I personally couldn't care less if some bird stands in my grass or not. Might as well be angry at clouds

 

[NatJ]

Territorial instincts are so odd. I personally couldn't care less if some bird stands in my grass or not. Might as well be angry at clouds

Yes, it is odd what things bother some people and what things bother other people.

A cloud does not have an owner who is supposed to keep it home, does not scratch up gardens or flowerbeds or lawns, does not leave poop that someone may step in, and does not spread chicken-specific diseases and parasites that could affect someone else's chickens. Those are all reasons that someone might care about chickens but not clouds.

And I've known some people to get angry at clouds, too (usually when the person wanted different weather.)

 

[Red Mangrove]

Yes, it is odd what things bother some people and what things bother other people.

A cloud does not have an owner who is supposed to keep it home, does not scratch up gardens or flowerbeds or lawns, does not leave poop that someone may step in, and does not spread chicken-specific diseases and parasites that could affect someone else's chickens. Those are all reasons that someone might care about chickens but not clouds.

And I've known some people to get angry at clouds, too (usually when the person wanted different weather.)

There's chickens running around all over my neighborhood and nobody cares. I've had chickens join different flocks and different chickens join my flock. Every single one is perfectly healthy. Chickens are healthiest when humans interfere with them the least as this website constantly testifies

As for gardens and soil, from what I've observed chickens are only a positive force on the environment. They've certainly turned my dead sand into rich black soil perfect for gardening

If chickens had zero meat and eggs I would still keep them for the benefits of cleansing insects and healing the earth. It truly seems like they fill an empty ecological niche in North America