Do chickens feel jealousy?

[Brandy2512]

Update: yesterday I spent about two hours total with the chickens, picking them up one by one and just spending time with them. I picked the most jealous one up first. That wasn't enough though - as soon as I put her down and put the next one in my lap, jealous pullet went for the other pullet's face and got agitated again. When she does this, I've been "pecking" her on top of the head with my finger and telling her no. But in addition to that, something else happened that I think helped drive the point across, and this hadn't happened before up to this point - the cockerel (their hatch mate and the only male), who had been completely uninterested in the drama up until now, finally took a stand, went beak to beak with her and stared her down, then put his body between her and me, and remained there until she walked away. I was so proud of him! (and happy that he took my side ). Today I spent a bunch of time with the chickens again, taking turns holding each one, and even though there were some grumpy clucks and stares, nobody pecked anybody today. So I think the combined efforts of me giving each one special attention, plus tapping them on the head when they peck, plus the cockerel stepping in, is working. He doesn't have much time left with us - we have to get rid of him when he starts crowing - but hopefully he can play peacekeeper until then and set a good pattern of behavior before leaving.

How cool that stepped in! It’s a shame you can’t keep him.

 

[K0k0shka]

How cool that stepped in! It’s a shame you can’t keep him.

We all love him but sadly we can’t have roosters where we live He’s lucky that I found him a new home though. His male hatch mates all got butchered already.

 

[Pghelp]

Wish I had seen this thread a couple of weeks ago! Now I'm having jealousy issues in my gang. They're just now 5 months old and only one is consistently laying. Coincidentally she also near the bottom of the pecking order. She has long been a cuddle bunny wanting to be held and picked up. Now if she's not fed fast enough she is pecking me -- arms, hand, the backs of my legs, whatever! She doesn't peck the other pullets, just me. I've tried holding the others and her latest demand is that if I hold another then I must pick her up next. Honestly the pecking seems rooted in frustration. She never ever pecks me when she's being held. Then she is perfectly calm and completely relaxed. I too have bruises and skin breaks. I've tried the thump on the back and holding my hand up with a "No!" but I had better be fast or she'll peck the hand I'm holding up. My question is will this behavior subside as they all mature? She went from being first or second in command to next to the bottom of the pecking order when she started laying a couple of weeks ago, so hormones? Growing pains? Waiting for my wounds to heal and eager to hear if the rest of you still have problems.

 

[Moe Jr]

I don’t want to anthropomorphize them too much, but at the same time, I do realize that they are social critters with social emotions. So here’s a behavior I need help interpreting. Some of my chickens really don’t like it when I’m cuddling others.

Context: I have 6 young chickens (18 weeks) that were all hand-reared and are bonded to me and my family. Very calm, social and friendly. They will either hop in my lap on their own, or let me put them in my lap myself, where they stay and enjoy some petting and cuddles.

A few weeks ago I noticed that one of the cuddliest pullets gets very upset and agitated when I have another chicken in my lap. She will circle us and try to peck the other chicken in the face, all the while making scolding sounds. When I put my hands in the way to protect the victim’s face, she starts to peck at the feet or straight out pull feathers out from the victim’s body! If I stand up with the other chicken in my arms, and walk away, she’ll follow me, looking up at the other chicken, making grumpy noises. When I put the other chicken down, she chases her away. At first, it was just one pullet doing that. But today, a second one started doing the same thing! She’s also one of the cuddliest, and she took it further - when I shielded the victim so she couldn’t get at her, the attacking pullet started attacking ME! She’d jump at me and pull my shirt with her beak, while kicking me with her feet. None of my chickens have ever done that to me, so I’m quite stunned. This one is one of my favorites and I thought we had a special friendship... Now I don’t know how to read this. After she attacked me, I picked her up and walked around with her for a while, until she calmed down. What should I make of this? All the pullets involved are Orpingtons.

Here’s the traitor:

View attachment 2308358

I could have written some of this post. I have 18 week Orpingtons (different colors) and they're all sweet natured and enjoy affection. My Buff girl is always jumping into my lap and pressing herself against me. Other chickens might jump up and occupy space on other parts of my legs and she has no issue with that. But today, when she jumped down, I picked up another bird (my most passive one) and held her close for a minute. As soon as I put her down, the Buff girl chased her into a corner and pecked her face, then jumped back into my lap. I scolded her but she didn't care. My husband says I created this little monster.

 

[K0k0shka]

I could have written some of this post. I have 18 week Orpingtons (different colors) and they're all sweet natured and enjoy affection. My Buff girl is always jumping into my lap and pressing herself against me. Other chickens might jump up and occupy space on other parts of my legs and she has no issue with that. But today, when she jumped down, I picked up another bird (my most passive one) and held her close for a minute. As soon as I put her down, the Buff girl chased her into a corner and pecked her face, then jumped back into my lap. I scolded her but she didn't care. My husband says I created this little monster.

They do have their weird quirks and preferences, and ideas about pecking order that aren't always linear or transparent. Now that it's been 4 years since I posted this thread, I have some more observations on my particular situation. The jealous bird isn't equally jealous of everybody when it comes to my lap - there is one particular hen that she doesn't like to see in my lap, or getting any attention from me. The two are hatch-mates of the same breed and grew up together, most of the time they are friends, but the jealous one seems to have beef with her from time to time. A couple of years ago it escalated to a full on attack that left the other hen's head all bloodied! I did some investigating and observing and realized that the two pullets I had at the time, who were coming of age and looking for opportunities to assert themselves and climb the social ladder, took advantage of the scuffle and sided with the jealous hen (who is the alpha). So what would have otherwise been a couple of pecks, escalated into a 3-on-1 attack and bloodshed. After the victim's wounds healed, and I brought her back, I separated out the alpha so the victim could have her payback with the pullets. And oh man did she! She whooped their fluffy butts. After that was settled, I brought the alpha back, and things went back to normal. It's been a few years since and no more trouble. The alpha still doesn't like to see that hen in my lap, but now I know to watch out for that and just block her pecking attempts while that hen is in my lap.

In your case, it might be a dominance thing if the other bird is the most passive. Scolding after the fact won't teach the bully anything, as she won't make the connection. She will think you're scolding her for jumping onto your lap (since that's the action she was doing when the scolding happened). You have to react right in the moment, like right when she has cornered the other hen and is pecking her. Put your hand on her back and push her down into a sitting position, and hold her like that for a while. No need for verbal scolding (she won't get the point) or other physical punishment. Pushing her down is how you assert dominance (how they do it between each other, too) so she's more likely to understand that. A good alpha hen (or the rooster, if there is one) will break up fights like that, but if the alpha/rooster is the one doing the bullying, there's nobody to put him/her in their place. So that's where the human can help.

 

[SamLockwood]

I don’t want to anthropomorphize them too much, but at the same time, I do realize that they are social critters with social emotions. So here’s a behavior I need help interpreting. Some of my chickens really don’t like it when I’m cuddling others.

Context: I have 6 young chickens (18 weeks) that were all hand-reared and are bonded to me and my family. Very calm, social and friendly. They will either hop in my lap on their own, or let me put them in my lap myself, where they stay and enjoy some petting and cuddles.

A few weeks ago I noticed that one of the cuddliest pullets gets very upset and agitated when I have another chicken in my lap. She will circle us and try to peck the other chicken in the face, all the while making scolding sounds. When I put my hands in the way to protect the victim’s face, she starts to peck at the feet or straight out pull feathers out from the victim’s body! If I stand up with the other chicken in my arms, and walk away, she’ll follow me, looking up at the other chicken, making grumpy noises. When I put the other chicken down, she chases her away. At first, it was just one pullet doing that. But today, a second one started doing the same thing! She’s also one of the cuddliest, and she took it further - when I shielded the victim so she couldn’t get at her, the attacking pullet started attacking ME! She’d jump at me and pull my shirt with her beak, while kicking me with her feet. None of my chickens have ever done that to me, so I’m quite stunned. This one is one of my favorites and I thought we had a special friendship... Now I don’t know how to read this. After she attacked me, I picked her up and walked around with her for a while, until she calmed down. What should I make of this? All the pullets involved are Orpingtons.

Here’s the traitor:

View attachment 2308358

Everything with them is social heirarchy, aka "the pecking order."
They don't really have any concept of a relationship of equals, and pecking order determines everything: who gets to the feeders first, who gets to use the "best" nesting box, etc.

So while it's not jealousy as humans usually think of it, your hen doesn't like the fact the others are getting the same level of attention from you because it's messing with her social status.

I don't pet or cuddle with my birds, but a lot of them will hang out with me if I'm in the yard with them, and there's sometimes squabbles over who gets to be closer to the human. My alpha rooster was skittish around me when he was a beta, but when he took over he became friendlier with me because being seen with the big guy is a status symbol in the flock. He'll even get concerned if any of the other roosters hang out with me too long and make them clear out.