Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

It's really bad in the winter when you've got more than ten to count. I hate taking my shoes and socks off when it's cold.

My point exactly. I just need fingers.

 

[BY Bob]

Do you know what it was she saw?

I do not. No exact threat was ever identified but I just had another hawk sighting. It's starting to feel like that might be the culprit.

 

[BY Bob]

I solved this one long ago. I wear toe socks with my thongs [flip~flops for Americans],

We know the term thongs. Some people use it here as well as flip flop.

 

[Ribh]

We know the term thongs. Some people use it here as well as flip flop.

I never know when I talk to Americans. Some people seem to think I am refering to underwear.

 

[Ribh]

I really cannot fathom this.
Mine are really like pigs and leave nothing behind. The only time I have seen them ignore food was when I gave them leftover melon and while they were chowing down a mouse ran by so they stopped to catch the mouse. Live food is more interesting than fruit and veg it seems.
I would worry mine are under-fed but they have free access to commercial food.
I honestly think Bob, yours are just better brought up and have better table manners.
Where did I go wrong?!

It may be a breed difference... just a thought. My BRs & FavorelleXs are pigs. My Wyandottes & Campines are not.

 

[featherhead007]

We know the term thongs. Some people use it here as well as flip flop.

What's wrong with sandals?

 

[Shadrach]

I do not. No exact threat was ever identified but I just had another hawk sighting. It's starting to feel like that might be the culprit.

You may recall I've split the calls up for predators into two main calls, one for aerial and one for ground. Then there is the warning call, this is quiet and meant to be heard by the tribe. After the warning call has been given you get what I call the general alarm call; it's this that everyone hears but it isn't the warning call.
It gets more complicated. Each chicken has a different voice. The warning call from say Cillin is not quite the same as the same call from Punch. This gets interesting when there are cockerels around, some of which give the warning call for anything that moves it seems at times. The adult hens know who is giving the call and adjust their reaction to it. If Mag from Tribe 2 gives a warning call all the tribe hens pay attention and head for cover. If the new unnamed cockerel gives the warning call the hens will make a judgement, the less experienced ones usually heading for cover while the more senior may decide that the threat isn't imminent, or may not exist at all.
This why it is often more informative to look at the rest of the flock than it is to look at the most obvious which is the bird that gave the call. It's the reaction of the rest of the flock that often lets one know what a call means.

 

[Shadrach]

Also, the call varies with the proximity of the threat and the tribes reaction varies accordingly. When Cillin for example hasn't seen a hawk until the hawk is close to strike distance, that warning call is different again to the call for a hawk spotted a couple of hundred meters away in the sky.
Mother hens are similar. There is a 'heads' up call for chicks and run like f*** call. There is also a difference between the warning call that calls chicks to her in times of danger and the call that sends them to cover. The send to cover call is the most commonly heard one. As soon as the chicks are mobile enough the hen sends them away in order to take on the threat unhampered by chicks under her.

 

[micstrachan]

She looks rough this evening. I didn't want to embarrass her by taking a picture.

Poor girl!

 

[Shadrach]

Finally, for now at least, some roosters and one must assume some hens as well use the warning call as a deception. Notch was a master at this. On the occasions I've just put scraps out for all who would come for them Notch would give a warning call and all the chickens would head for cover. He stayed by the food and called his hens. This way his hens got an advantage because hens from another tribe wouldn't go back to the food until their rooster gave the all clear. Clever stuff and very sneaky.