Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Shadrach]

This is just how mine are... they never try to go at me in anyway... I can do whatever and it’s fine... take eggs from under them.. remove them from the nest.. and even give them scratches while sitting... all fine.. just a lot of clucking/broody noises... and puffing up of course

I agree in general. Even the stroppiest hens here are very docile while sitting. I can do most of anything while a hen is sitting on her eggs. This is partly because they are in the broody trance even though they may look awake.
Hens here do not become aggressive until the chicks hatch.

 

[Ribh]

I think there is much misunderstanding about the so called pecking order and like many observations reflects more of the observers view than of the reality of the situation.
Some assume that climbing the pecking order is the natural desire/drive of any chicken. This isn't what the evidence demonstrates. It seems to stem from the belief that chickens are primarily competitive. The evidence doesn't bear this out either.
Stability is what I see as being most important in the chicken world. In all the tribes the most senior in position is the most senior in age. Getting to be senior has very little to do with aggression or competitiveness from what I've seen. Fat bird couldn't fight her way out of a paper bag yet she is undoubtedly the senior hen. She has earned the right to peck at the juniors and nobody challenges this.
Ruffles used to do Fat Birds fighting so this is cooperation rather than competition. If chicken society was as competitive as some would have us believe chickens would have died out long ago. One can imagine in a group of ten hens for example it would be a constnat battle by each individual to get the most food, the best roost position, etc etc. It isn't in fact like that. The level of violence is minimal. The pecks that one sees in many of these confrontations hardly disturb the feathers of the receiver. This should be obvious because if the pecks made contact or were intended to do damage after a nights roost squabbles the hens would end up covered in blood. But, people like to believe what they like to believe despite the evidence.
Even for the lowest ranking chicken, better in the tribe at the bottom than constantly fighting to elevate their position and in extreme conflict, expelled from the tribe. Nobody wants to live with an Attila.
I've written a bit about this in the book. I'll lash up a version and post it.

I always enjoy your different perspective on things. I will look forward to reading your take on it. I don't know that I see the pecking order as competitive so much as *nature abhorring a vacuum * & a certain amount of chaos when the order of things changes. I have seen this when I have lost hens, particularly more senior hens, & there needs to be some reshuffling & new habits formed ~ if that sort of makes sense. It also happened when the girl who should have been senior hen abdicated the position. There was quite a lot of anxiety until things settled down & there was more fighting than I usually have amongst the flock.

 

[Ali James]

I mightn't see it, but I'm pretty sure I would hear any ruckus. I usually hear any scuffles that go on because the hen house isn't that far from my living room & we keep all the windows open in summer, when my lot tend to go broody. Of course I still might have missed it but given how often I have a broody surely I'd have seen something @ least once...?. I am only going by my observations. My regular broodies are big girls & high ranking. No~one messes with them but they seem to have set the standard; Broodies get left alone. Their status may shift when they rejoin the flock but a sitter is left to get on with it.

My 1st broody, when I had no idea what I was dealing with, was really aggressive but I refused to be intimidated by her & not only has she never been aggressive with me again, none of the other hens have either. I can remove eggs & shift a sitter with no more than a lot of squawking. No pecking. No wing attacks. I am fascinated that others have different experiences. I find broodys frustrating because I can't let them sit, but I don't see really aggressive behaviour, just the fluffing & squawking & doing everything @ zoom speed. Otherwise they are pretty chill. The hardest part for me has been getting them out of their trance long enough to eat, drink & dust bath.

Thanks for sharing Ribh - isn't it great how we all have such varied hens and different experiences? Like you, letting mine sit jut is not an option so it has to be stopped. I keep thinking of @Shadrach 's approach about these being natural behaviours and humans interfering. I feel bad now about it, but with our set up, I just can't let them sit

 

[Ribh]

Thanks for sharing Ribh - isn't it great how we all have such varied hens and different experiences? Like you, letting mine sit jut is not an option so it has to be stopped. I keep thinking of @Shadrach 's approach about these being natural behaviours and humans interfering. I feel bad now about it, but with our set up, I just can't let them sit

No, I can't let mine sit either & I can't keep a rooster. They have to be stopped for their health imo. I am so interested in what Bob is doing because I have broodies & will probably never see them hatch a clutch. I am so pleased for him that he is able to do it even if just once.

 

[Ali James]

I honestly woke up one morning a few weeks ago and thought what am I going to post on to keep things active here on my thread. I honestly thought that we were finally going to settle into a routine where nothing untoward happens. Free Range grazing every day. Roosting has become calm and organized. I was all ready to go back for some old stories, maybe do that coop building article, just really hit a simple routine.

ssssssssss Surprise!

Sydney's broody. Time for a new adventure.

They truly are never boring.

Love this!
But don't put pressure on yourself Bob, this is a lovely thread.

Think of it as a bit of a dinner party; you are the fabulous host who welcomes his guests with open arms. We have all come to your 'house' to enjoy good company and the chook chat, and whilst you provide the main 'meals' which we all savour and rave over (rightly so), we fill any gaps with related chat, reminiscences, and a jolly good time.

Cheers to you, sir!

 

[RoyalChick]

Love this!
But don't put pressure on yourself Bob, this is a lovely thread.

Think of it as a bit of a dinner party; you are the fabulous host who welcomes his guests with open arms. We have all come to your 'house' to enjoy good company and the chook chat, and whilst you provide the main 'meals' which we all savour and rave over (rightly so), we fill any gaps with related chat, reminiscences, and a jolly good time.

Cheers to you, sir!

Totally agree with that. And sometimes one or other of us contributes a small but delicious side-dish.

 

[BY Bob]

Do they not hop that fence? That wouldn't keep my girls out for a minute!

Even Daisy, the greatest hen ever, who loved to fly onto things more than any other hen, never beached the garden fence. Nope. No one has ever tried it. I raise polite rule abiding hens.

 

[BY Bob]

And I'll bet they work for "chicken feed"

Well played!

 

[BY Bob]

Probably not Bob. No worries. Just go and sit in the coop for a couple of nights and take notes.

I starting to think of Phyllis ever goes broody she will wind up in the bedroom with us.

 

[BY Bob]

It would seem to depend on the participants in the dispute and what the dispute is about. They probably know while I often don't.
It also depends on the level of violence.
But, in general yes, the roosters help keep the squabbling between the hens in their tribe to a minimum. If it's a dispute with a hen from another tribe the roosters tend to make it worse by joining in. They are very like humans in more ways than some may find comfortable to acknowledge.

I wondered. It sounds very human like. I hated to step in when my wife and daughters were going at it but when it got to a certain point I felt I had to.