Cooperative Behavior?

[centrarchid]

Here is one of my cover patches during opposing seasons. I stood in the same location for both photographs. First is during the production season when young birds can go anywhere they please.

Second is during winter season when things get tough.

The bamboo just popped back up today to fence could be righted and made hot again.

 

[centrarchid]

This is relevant to issues of nesting. The hens, especially those experienced with success of hatching off a brood, will go out of their way to nest in a secluded location. If that is not to be found, then they will make do with more open locations. The pen was placed over nest so hen was protected at all times while I was at work. Pen came off nest for potty, eating and drinking. Sometimes there would be four of the arrangements at a time. From this angle she is hard to see.

From this angle she is easy to see.

Harem masters were very much aware of where each hen had a nest, but seldom approached the nest except for the first day when hen checked out location prior to laying first egg. The only time I saw the harem master escort a hen to nest was when a satellite was particularly ardent.

 

[micstrachan]

I can use dogs to locate nesting hens easily as they hold point on a given nest until told to move on. What I want to do is rapidly locate nest using an aerial drone that flies a pattern over an area then feeds back and records images with GPS data attached.

What breed of dog do you use for this?

 

[MROO]

Sorry to go off on a tangent here, but it's kinda relevant ... @Shadrach & @centrarchid, You two know an awful lot about animal behavior in general and chickens "in specific." You also seem to have access to some interesting resources, either at home or at work. If I'm not being too nosy (and you can slap my hand, if I am, I won't get my feelings hurt,) what do (or did) you do in your work lives? Did you have formal training in animal behaviors? The reason I'm curious is that my daughter is looking to study the same types of things you are discussing in such great depth, and some nudges in the right direction would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Shadrach]

I could write a long post giving my qualifications and the various jobs I've had.
This is a lot easier.
I'm a professional. My official job title is 'Bucket Boy'. I look after the animals here and a couple of other places. I'm obsessed by chicken behavior.

(I'll send you a PM at some later date regarding information and possible routes for your daughter).

 

[centrarchid]

What breed of dog do you use for this?

German Pointers are what I have been using lately. In my youth I had a Black and Tan Coonhound that did the same.

 

[centrarchid]

Sorry to go off on a tangent here, but it's kinda relevant ... @Shadrach & @centrarchid, You two know an awful lot about animal behavior in general and chickens "in specific." You also seem to have access to some interesting resources, either at home or at work. If I'm not being too nosy (and you can slap my hand, if I am, I won't get my feelings hurt,) what do (or did) you do in your work lives? Did you have formal training in animal behaviors? The reason I'm curious is that my daughter is looking to study the same types of things you are discussing in such great depth, and some nudges in the right direction would be greatly appreciated!

I am a professor of animal science (aquaculture mostly) with a Ph. D. in Zoology. A lot of my course work and even some experimental background involved animal behavior either directly or indirectly. Pre-academia, our farm was fairly size-able and diversified where we raised beef cattle, hogs, horses (for show), hatching eggs for a commercial hatchery, and fighting chickens for that purpose plus we consumed a lot. I was also allowed to keep many kinds of wildlife effectively as free-range pets. I did not excel in written English. Now I have what amounts to a miniature farm that was purchased to train my kids and provide a teaching display for students much like an old Catholic preacher I followed around as a kid while learning about beekeeping. I have never backed away from study of biology. All said, I am not an expert on chicken behavior, but that may change.

 

[Shadrach]

Tackle turned up with Treacle this morning. She was laying eggs in the house nest box before Knock. It seems Tackle is senior to Knock despite both belonging to different tribes. It seems from this and other encounters I’ve seen that seniority isn’t group/tribe specific.
Tackle drove Knock out of the nest box and settled to lay an egg. Tackle has a rather strange habit of getting into the nest box and sitting for a while, getting back out and rejoining her tribe for a while and then returning to lay an egg.

Knock went and had a bath, got something to eat and hung around the outskirts of her tribe for a while before retutning without Notch to the bush where Tribe 1 was sheltering. (the same bush that can be seen in the pictures above where the hens of Tribe 1 took cover when Cillin called the warning for the hawk)
The hens of Tribe 1 didn’t drive knock away and neither Cillin or Treacle tried to mate with Knock.
Knock came back to the nest box to find Tackle in it. Treacle escorted her from the bush to the nest box.
Eventually, after climbing on the computer, my shoulder and the arm chair she settled on my lap for a while dozing and finally got into the temporary nest box I had made which still has four eggs in.

Treacle and Knock just arrived.

Tackle installed in the nest box. She arrived with Cillin and then Cillin went and rejoined his hens.

Lucky picture. BACK OFF! Treacle trying to herd Knock but she isn't impressed. For those who may want to know how to tell if a hen is broody this is how they behave towards other chickens when they get to close.

Knock not impressed with the content on BYC She settled on my lap after this picture.

Any eggs will do.....for now.

When and if Treacle gets out of the nest box, I expect Knock to get in.
There are currently four pullets attempting to sit here at present. One bantam pullet called Hinge, I've recently confiscated her eggs. She sat on an empty nest for half a day and since then has been out and about with her tribe. No wire crates, cold water baths or separating from her flock required.
Mel is half heartedly sitting in the maternity unit outside my house.

 

[centrarchid]

Lucky picture. BACK OFF! Treacle trying to herd Knock but she isn't impressed. For those who may want to know how to tell if a hen is broody this is how they behave towards other chickens when they get to close.View attachment 1653688

I see similar with a broody hen with chicks interacting with a strange rooster just a day or two after harem master was taken by bobcat. She is not produce such displays to the harem master that was also vested in rearing her chicks. It took a few days before he was accepted as the new harem master where he also invested in chicks. He and chicks had to imprint on each other and process is something you can see which is similar to how old modems used to synchronize before exchanging files.

 

[Shadrach]

I see similar with a broody hen with chicks interacting with a strange rooster just a day or two after harem master was taken by bobcat. She is not produce such displays to the harem master that was also vested in rearing her chicks. It took a few days before he was accepted as the new harem master where he also invested in chicks. He and chicks had to imprint on each other and process is something you can see which is similar to how old modems used to synchronize before exchanging files.

Great picture centrarchid.
Did the hen allow the rooster to imprint the chicks. I've watched this many times now and the first time I saw it I was a bit concerned that the rooster might peck the chicks.
What actually happened is he dropped his head right alongside each chick and stayed there for a number of seconds before repeating for the next chicks. When I have seen this the rooster has been the chicks male parent to the best of my knowledge.