Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

26 Weeks

@MaryJanet Sansa was just over 26 weeks old on Tuesday when I confirmed that she laid an egg. I checked the spreadsheet this morning.

 

[LozzyR]

If she's not moving around much during the day she might not eat much food. I've noticed a difference between what the slower and faster hens eat.

I just wish I could tell if she is in any pain or discomfort. If she’s just standing around for most of the day, she doesn’t really seem to be enjoying life. She’ll have a bit of a scratch in the garden but it’s half-hearted at best.

 

[BY Bob]

I have a led shop light that we leave on 24/7 they perch on it occasionally but dont really get on it.

Where do they sleep? Can you take a picture of them sleeping? If you don't mind me asking, why is the shop light on 24/7?

 

[BY Bob]

I've never been convinced that integration works. They will try and get along in forced confinment but given a choice it seems much like people, they have a preference regarding who they live with and team up with.

They absolutely have favorites and in my all hen flock they seem to always pair up when free ranging.

With Lilly limited in mobility yesterday I saw a lot more interesting groups around the yard. Including Aurora hanging with Sydney and Hattie paired off with Phyllis of all things. Of course who is laying at the time influenced the groups as well.

 

[BY Bob]

If she's not moving around much during the day she might not eat much food. I've noticed a difference between what the slower and faster hens eat.

From what I've seen, they almost always tank up before bed time, regardless of activity level. I believe they don't want an empty craw all night. I'd be worried if that did not occur.

 

[BY Bob]

I just wish I could tell if she is in any pain or discomfort. If she’s just standing around for most of the day, she doesn’t really seem to be enjoying life. She’ll have a bit of a scratch in the garden but it’s half-hearted at best.

How does the rest of the flock react to her?

 

[BY Bob]

Lilly Roosted Low

Last night Lilly roosted low. Sydney and Aurora roosted high. Sansa actually could not decide where to roost (I watched) and she wound up on the floor in front of the nesting boxes. That is not permitted. After full darkness I went out and put her on the roost by Lilly.

 

[LozzyR]

From what I've seen, they almost always tank up before bed time, regardless of activity level. I believe they don't want an empty craw all night. I'd be worried if that did not occur.

Chickie’s crop was empty the other night, she wasn’t interested in what was on offer. The last two nights I’ve made sure she had dinner.

 

[LozzyR]

How does the rest of the flock react to her?

The new girls ignore her, Lucy and Charlie alternately hang out with her and go and do their own thing.

 

[BY Bob]

Aurora Rules the Roost

The following video is over 5 minutes long. I edited it down from nearly 20 minutes of recording. It shows a fascinating piece of chicken behavior. It is not for someone who believes that chickens are friendly fluffy balls of feathers that all love each other. This is a display of dominance that I have not recorded before and it involves a lot of pecking.

What you will see is the following. Everyone is roosted and settled but Aurora. Aurora comes in and decides that Sydney needs to be dominated tonight. I do not know how or why she makes that decision.

Aurora can barely reach her on the high roost, seemingly getting on her tip toes to reach Sydney. That does not dissuade her. She pecks at Sydney until Sydney makes the mistake of moving which puts her into more effective range for Aurora.

Aurora garbs and pulls Sydney off the high roost and gets off her roost to go after her.

There is some pecking and chasing until the most fascinating part of the video occurs.

Sydney submits. She goes prone of the floor with her wings partially spread. You can really see Aurora's dominance here. It is almost like she is a cruel prison guard with a prisoner in hand cuffs on the ground. You can almost hear Strother Martin saying "What we've got here is a failure to communicate"

Aurora stands over her, pecks her, pulls at her wings, and makes Sydney stay in that position for quite a while. Sydney remains in the position even after Aurora has left.

Eventually Sydney gets up and resumes her position on the high roost.

All of this had nothing to do with Aurora wanting Sydney's spot on the high roost. Aurora went back to her spot on the low roost. This was simply about dominance.

Now the observations from the next day were most interesting. Sydney and Aurora spent time together free ranging, they briefly ate together from my hand at the same time, and Sydney and Aurora roosted together last night.

Is this a big step to building an integrated pecking order? It seems so. Time will tell.