Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Shadrach]

What's more, there seems to be a *peacekeeper* amongst the girls who is the oil on troubled water when disputes start getting heated. In my flock it is Luna, a Favorelle X. She is a calm middle order girl who seems able to avoid being on the outer with anyone but anytime someone is really getting bullied she steps in & puts the bully very firmly in their place & everyone accedes to her authority in these matters. It is fascinating!

Because the tribes here are relatively small and all have roosters normally, it's the roosters who break up the hen fights here.
Most of the hierarchy pecks hardly disturb the feathers despite all the fuss made by the recipient with the chickens here. An advantage here is there is plenty of space to avoid conflict even to the point of moving coop on a couple of occasions.
How anybody can ever dismiss chickens as stupid creatures is completely beyond me.

 

[MaryJanet]

They're very clever. Mary the Australorp took only one time to figure out she needs to hop up on the bench next to me if she wants salmon and egg treat on weekend mornings. Having now done it for a few weekends, she's on the bench, waiting. Not on weekdays. Only on weekends. I'm not saying she can count, but I'm saying she's very observant of my morning routines (such as they are) and keeps watch for signifiers that treats are forthcoming.

 

[Ribh]

How anybody can ever dismiss chickens as stupid creatures is completely beyond me.

Me too. Out of consideration for my neighbours a rooster is not on here.

My man, who lived & worked on farms before I met him, wasn't keen on the chickens but he made an interesting observation about our present lot. He said most chickens he'd ever known must have been completely neurotic due to bad living conditions [ie ones that aren't natural as opposed to not being looked after @ all] & a happy, contented chicken allowed to do her chickeny thing is a very different creature! True of most animals I think. I don't have the space to totally free range but we've given the girls as much space as we can ~ including trees & bushes in the run which are a right pain when you go to roof it in! They do like to get out & explore & I don't mind a little as there is minimal damage & they're not annoying the neighbours but one reason they got penned is my veggies!

 

[MaryJanet]

While I'm on the topic of Mary's enthusiasm for salmon and egg treat ... I think each hen likes to eat different things. Sandy will only eat dry pellers if she's desperate but she chows down on pellets that are softened with water. Mary prefers dry pellets. She also picks the salmon out of the salmon and egg, Sandy picks the egg out. Janet targets the millet in the grain mash, Mary the corn.

Lucky for me, they all love lettuce which I use whenever I have to move them from a to b.

 

[Shadrach]

They're very clever. Mary the Australorp took only one time to figure out she needs to hop up on the bench next to me if she wants salmon and egg treat on weekend mornings. Having now done it for a few weekends, she's on the bench, waiting. Not on weekdays. Only on weekends. I'm not saying she can count, but I'm saying she's very observant of my morning routines (such as they are) and keeps watch for signifiers that treats are forthcoming.

You can say they can count; up to 107 if my memory serves me.
There have been some recent studies that have been summarized in the links below.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-016-1064-4
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/8/1/13/htm

I've got more.

 

[MaryJanet]

Ok. She's counting the days!

 

[Ribh]

Ok. She's counting the days!

Trust Shadrach to know!

 

[Ribh]

Seeing most of the conversation is on Bob's thread this morning, can anyone answer this for me?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/is-it-ok-to-put-sea-grass-in-my-chicken-run.1338172/

 

[Shadrach]

Me too. Out of consideration for my neighbours a rooster is not on here.

My man, who lived & worked on farms before I met him, wasn't keen on the chickens but he made an interesting observation about our present lot. He said most chickens he'd ever known must have been completely neurotic due to bad living conditions [ie ones that aren't natural as opposed to not being looked after @ all] & a happy, contented chicken allowed to do her chickeny thing is a very different creature! True of most animals I think. I don't have the space to totally free range but we've given the girls as much space as we can ~ including trees & bushes in the run which are a right pain when you go to roof it in! They do like to get out & explore & I don't mind a little as there is minimal damage & they're not annoying the neighbours but one reason they got penned is my veggies!

I think a lot of people here must think I'm very anti contained chickens. I'm not and in other circumstances I might well have chickens in a run. Not all coops and particularly runs are equal.
Free ranging here has been a pretty horrific experience. It's a lot better now than it was when I got here, but I/we still lose chickens, at least two a year to predation. It was one a month when I got here.

 

[Ribh]

I think a lot of people here must think I'm very anti contained chickens. I'm not and in other circumstances I might well have chickens in a run. Not all coops and particularly runs are equal.
Free ranging here has been a pretty horrific experience. It's a lot better now than it was when I got here, but I/we still lose chickens, at least two a year to predation. It was one a month when I got here.

Oh yes, horses for courses. Our biggest predators are actually domestic dogs ~ as I've whinged about before. They can massacre an entire flock in minutes & they are my biggest reason for restricting my girls. When we had fewer neighbours I let my girls free range & never lost anyone to a predator.