Cooperative Behavior?

[Shadrach]

Does the location where the two harem masters are displaying coincide with a do not cross line / territorial boundary? Mine would engage in brief little chases back and forth with no actual contact between the roosters. Crossing would lead to contact.

Can you make video clips of their interactions when displaying? You will be able to hear some really cool sounds produced if close enough.

I do have some recordings of pre fight and fight calls. I didn’t have a camera at the time so there are no pictures.
Because of the relationship I have with the rooster Cillin (he was an orphan and I brought him up) if I get close enough to record a clip with my camera he will attack Notch believing, I assume, he is protecting me. I’ve tried to get close up pictures of such confrontations before and the whole dynamics of the situation change. As long as I am a reasonable distance away I don’t influence the behavior much.

While there are tribe territories the tribes themselves move across each other territories in search of forage, best dust baths and best cover when it’s hot. The other people who I am in contact with who also keep tribes in multi coop arrangements report the same. If the areas for resources was smaller and the competition for them was greater the tribes might well defend by territory. At the moment because there is plenty for all, it’s not in the interests of the roosters to fight. Fighting is in general counter productive. The tribes move around each other. Conflicts happen when roosters get too close to another tribes hens. Usually when two tribes ‘meet’ the roosters separate from the hens and confront each other away from the tribe as can be seen in pictures above. Cillin is overall top rooster and he could if he wished move his tribe to any location without having to fight. Notch, from Tribe 3 will make a few lunges for the sake of pride probably but will move away eventually. The roosters in Tribe 2 (bantams) will and have had a go at Cillin and they will fight as a pair often. Thankfully Cillin isn’t a bully and the roosters from Tribe 2 let him and his hens pass without problems.
So, here conflict is based around proximity to tribes and not defined boundaries.

 

[centrarchid]

I do have some recordings of pre fight and fight calls. I didn’t have a camera at the time so there are no pictures.
Because of the relationship I have with the rooster Cillin (he was an orphan and I brought him up) if I get close enough to record a clip with my camera he will attack Notch believing, I assume, he is protecting me. I’ve tried to get close up pictures of such confrontations before and the whole dynamics of the situation change. As long as I am a reasonable distance away I don’t influence the behavior much.

While there are tribe territories the tribes themselves move across each other territories in search of forage, best dust baths and best cover when it’s hot. The other people who I am in contact with who also keep tribes in multi coop arrangements report the same. If the areas for resources was smaller and the competition for them was greater the tribes might well defend by territory. At the moment because there is plenty for all, it’s not in the interests of the roosters to fight. Fighting is in general counter productive. The tribes move around each other. Conflicts happen when roosters get too close to another tribes hens. Usually when two tribes ‘meet’ the roosters separate from the hens and confront each other away from the tribe as can be seen in pictures above. Cillin is overall top rooster and he could if he wished move his tribe to any location without having to fight. Notch, from Tribe 3 will make a few lunges for the sake of pride probably but will move away eventually. The roosters in Tribe 2 (bantams) will and have had a go at Cillin and they will fight as a pair often. Thankfully Cillin isn’t a bully and the roosters from Tribe 2 let him and his hens pass without problems.
So, here conflict is based around proximity to tribes and not defined boundaries.

I think relationship between territoriality is reverse of what you are seeing. They have territories when it is worth effort and it is possible to defend them. My birds have more acreage per bird and do have territories. The break down in territoriality I have currently around barn has a much higher chicken density and a only two feed stations that can not be defended. Your birds in many ways are more like my barn flock. You have roosters with a rank order that operate over the same home range. Some fish I work with can slip back and forth between pecking order within a common home range and exclusive territoriality in much the same manner, to degree I can manipulate it.

The productivity of conflict is balanced between cost and potential gain.

 

[Shadrach]

The tribes here do have territories and will defend them. This rarely ends in conflict. Each tribe knows which areas 'belong' to which tribe. I used to believe that the fights were about territories but the more I watched the less convinced I became. When spring comes here, Tribe 2 will move up to the sheep field in the early evening. This is most definitely the territory of Tribe 1. Cillin the rooster of Tribe 1 won't initiate aggression unless the roosters of Tribe 2, split from their group and approach the hens of Tribe 1. There will be a bit of shouting from the roosters and the two tribes will move around each other.
There are many other examples and maybe in the spring I'll do a video or pic documentary showing the cooperation that avoids conflict.

 

[centrarchid]

Conflict is when they are displaying too. It does not always involving butt kicking.

 

[Shadrach]

I think differing breeds and differing environments may produce variations in behavior.
Here there are 12.5 acres of this property and to come into contact with another flock of chickens those here would need to travel 1.5 kilometers North, or 3 Kilometers South, traveling through National Park land.

 

[centrarchid]

Losing me a bit. Are the entire 12.5 acres being used? By how many birds?

 

[Shadrach]

Losing me a bit. Are the entire 12.5 acres being used? By how many birds?

Yeah, sry, not very well explained.
No, under normal circumstances about 4 acres of the available land is used by the chickens (21 atm in total) At the moment they are rarely venturing further than 100 metres from human habitation; say they're using approximately an acre and a half. As the seasons change, and the amount of commercial feed available changes to less (They'll get less in the spring because the forage improves )they venture further afield.
Bear in mind that these are essentially domestic chickens allowed to behave in a more feral manner, while if I've understood correctly, you have a feral population and another population that is more similar to what I have here. Your feral population I would have thought will range further. (?).

 

[centrarchid]

My closest neighbor with flock is a good 1/2 mile away so odds not good for a contact zone their. I have over 18 acres, but birds use less than a 1/3 of that most of the time. A good 90% of birds use only about an acre and they do close what you describe. The much smaller number occupies the balance of the property and even go off property at times. It is with those I see the cool stuff. The high density birds are much more like typical barnyard / backyard flocks where feed dominates their intake.


When I am trying to figure out the area issues I go second grade school on the project. I print out a satellite image of known acreage and way the paper. Then I draw lines depicting range / territory boundaries. The shapes are cut, weighed, and compared to weight of entire acreage to give quick estimate of acreage within a range / territory. I have software at work that does same by simply selecting area, but most folks can not do that from home.

 

[Shadrach]

My closest neighbor with flock is a good 1/2 mile away so odds not good for a contact zone their. I have over 18 acres, but birds use less than a 1/3 of that most of the time. A good 90% of birds use only about an acre and they do close what you describe. The much smaller number occupies the balance of the property and even go off property at times. It is with those I see the cool stuff. The high density birds are much more like typical barnyard / backyard flocks where feed dominates their intake.


When I am trying to figure out the area issues I go second grade school on the project. I print out a satellite image of known acreage and way the paper. Then I draw lines depicting range / territory boundaries. The shapes are cut, weighed, and compared to weight of entire acreage to give quick estimate of acreage within a range / territory. I have software at work that does same by simply selecting area, but most folks can not do that from home.

I'll try to get a map sorted. It would help. I just haven't got around to it yet.

 

[MROO]

...
The paternal behavior of the American Games appears particular to games. I do not think it comes from the Red Jungle Fowl part of their ancestry as little more than tid-bitting and predator avoidance is listed for roosters of the nominal species in the literature. Chickens are not Red Jungle Fowl owing to hybridization and intensive selection on those hybrids. I have encountered a statement that appears to come from a biologist that indicated adult male Grey Jungle Fowl do help care more for offspring after hen weans, but cannot find a reviewed statement.
...

That's really interesting. The Nankin Bantam shows the same paternal care behavior - mainly in weaned or close-to-weaning chicks, although I have seen it as young as two weeks old. Dad kept the youngsters in the nest area while Mom went for an extensive dust bath. The note about the Grey Jungle Fowl showing the tendency more than the red is also a neat little aside, as some of the more recent speculation about Nannies is that their ancestry leans more towards the Grey than the Red. I'm no scientist, and I can't quote any direct writings, but even at the "circumstantial evidence" level, I find the whole thing fascinating!