Do you think we "over-think" chicken behavior???

[Three Cedars Silkies]

The only thing I think we cannot worry too much about is predator safety in the coop.

After a year of worrying constantly...and losing a couple of birds to predators getting in despite "Ft. Knoxing" the coop...I put up electric wire and no longer have any worries!!

That stopped all lingering predators and I no longer have ANY chicken worries!!

 

[PeggySue]

I suppose I'm middle-ground on it. My "coffee station" is set up under the window that has a full and direct view of the coop, and I love looking out and seeing them out scratching around first thing in the morning. In the evenings, I look out and see that they are in for the night, and in between is just other stuff. I check for eggs when I get home from work, I sit out there with them (I only have 3) and plant things for them, or bring them a snack, or have my coffee on my day off. Other than that, they just do their thing. I enjoy them immensely.

 

[Reinbeau]

Now that I've been a chicken owner for just over a year I think that at first you over-think, but if you're at all attentive, you soon realize they are birds and act like birds. I like my chickens, but I've come to realize they really are more livestock than pets - and that's ok with me. Doesn't mean I don't worry about them, or fuss if one seems off, but they're just not something I'm totally attached to, like my dog or cats.

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
Oh dear me, did you say that? Chickens are livestock and not pets?
GASP!

 

[codybird]

Dave, You are facetiously facelisceous.

 

[Reinbeau]

Quote:
Oh dear me, did you say that? Chickens are livestock and not pets?
GASP!

Yes I did! Doesn't mean I think someone who thinks more of them is wrong, it's just the way it's become for me. I wanted chickens for a long time, and finally have them, it's fun, I love watching Chicken TV, I love the fact that selling their eggs pays for their food, but that's about as far as my attachment really goes. I guess it's the fact that they're not all fun and games, that they can be really mean to each other, and there isn't much we can do about it, pecking order and all - in the end they are chickens.

 

[caralouise1974]

I would definitely admit to fussing over mine and over-thinking them far too much. I would claim to understand most of their speech, I know which one of them has done which poop just by looking at it, and I can even tell from the subtle angle of the tail if one of them is feeling a little peaky. Sad but true.

I have been to the vet (with my sickly bluebelle in particular) on more occasions that I really should have done, mainly because I spend so much time watching every move, listening to every sound, and examining every poop, so that I am utterly in tune with their every physical ache and pain! They can't so much as get a little something caught in their throats without me rushing out there and worrying about imminent death from gapeworm!

On at least two of the occasions I've intervened when one of my girls was under the weather (and that's the key - they HAVE been poorly every time, it's just questionable whether they were poorly enough for the vet) I might have done better to save the hen the stress of a vet trip and treat her calmly at home. I suspect that on some of the occasions I've fussed and rushed them to the vet, they may have recovered faster, and with less stress, if left to their own devices for a few hours or so.

It's not nice being so utterly paranoid over your pets - I so wish that I could chill out a little and accept that I am not Chicken God with the power to make their every moment happy and healthy. It's hard to accept that they will get poorly and they might not make it, and one day I may not be able to do a darn thing about that.

It's a combination of too much love for the little fuzzy butts, and the desire to control EVERYTHING!

...Oh, and thinking that they are as capable of complex emotions and depth of feeling as I am - which clearly they cannot possibly be, with their tiny little brains that just think 'lay eggs, eat, sleep, pecking order, predator?!, sleep, lay eggs, pecking order, eat, predator?!, sleep, etc...)!