Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[featherhead007]

I was in the barn/coop and said “here I am Jaffar, time to rub your waddles, and count your ladies.” He didn’t mind at all! He’s such a good rooster!

 

[bgmathteach]

There are many things I hate watching in the world of chickens. What used to catch me out and what catches out many others is 1) how they interpret the violence and 2) their assesment of it's gravity.
I wrote an article about pecking for this very reason. What often looks a savage peck doesn't even make contact with the chicken on the receiving end. Pecks to the body are absorbed by the feathers. The recipient may not even feel it but they know they've been told.
Everybody talks/writes about the pecking order but often don't really understand why it has developed and what it actually means in the chickens world.
For the heirachy ( i don't like the term pecking order ) to work the order needs to be maintained. As I write in the articles title, not all pecks are equal.

The time to worry is when injuries are apparent. I'm not talking about a few spots of blood on a comb or wattles, that's much like a small bruise or a tiny cut on a human to a chicken and they accept it as part of living in chicken society.
I've seen a few hens who have has serious fights/telling offs and they sometimes look like somethign from a horror film; blood and snot everywhere.
Chickens fight. Hens fight hens. Roosters fight roosters. Hens fight roosters. It's what they do. At least they don't kill as easily and as indescriminantly as humans.
It all goes wrong when they do not have enough room to get away from each other.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/pecking-not-all-pecks-are-equal.75036/

@Shadrach,

I understand your point about the severity of pecking. Here, though, it was definitely aggression (? the reason for it), and while Dotty clearly wasn't hurt, there has been documented evidence of increasing likelihood of egg issues if a hen is not allowed to lay for an extended period of time when they need/want to lay. Additionally, the stress this situation incurs on Dotty, if it continues over a number of days, can also cause issues. Given all of the health issues @RoyalChick has endured with her hens, she has every right to be concerned and to want to minimize the conflict, whatever the cause. I can't speak for @RoyalChick in terms of how she perceived the pecking in terms of severity (i.e. hardness of peck), but she did say that Dotty wasn't bloody. Again, imo, the real issue(s) regarding the behavior, is 2 fold: Dotty not able to lay when she needs to, and the amount of sustained stress she endures. Both of these can negatively impact her health in a variety of ways, the least of which would be to weaken her immune system...that alone is enough to worry about given the stress of sudden cold weather after a very mild fall.

@RoyalChick has quite the sizeable coop/run for the few chickens she has....so maybe just adding some hiding spaces/visual occlusion may alleviate this.

And, yes, I understand that a wild flock would occupy a couple of acres...but that is all about resources and resource protection. Here they have plenty of resources to go around and they have been a 'flock' for an extended period of time. So, why the sudden dominance/pecking order issues and why to this degree. (The pecks & grabs were quite strong! If you notice, one of the 'grabs' was strong enough to almost pull Dotty off her feet.)

 

[LozzyR]

Or this one!

I know this going to cost me more tax, but I couldn’t resist.

 

[Lexicon]

Wow what a stunning picture of Ruth! Handsome and magnificent. I don't know breeds well. What is she?

Thanks
Ruth is an Easter Egger.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

OK - I am getting the strong sense that I will not be able to solve this issue!

Yeah I agree with everyone, in that there's some other dynamic here going on that just happens to be focused on the nestbox and whatever that means to them I think they have to work it out themselves, mostly. Once Maggie knew Dotty was intent on getting in there she even went to look and found her in there, so I'm not sure sight blocks would work. They will work it out, or not. Maybe it's the seasonal change, and Maggie's molt. So it may take some time.

Dotty will have to learn to be more secretive with Maggie. Possibly options for being in a nestbox that is in a totally different location will help. But that's in the future. Because Dotty wasn't choosing anywhere else right then either. It was a battle of wills.

Somebody decided to give Popcorn a hard time roosting today, there was serious pecking and yelping leading up to roosting, the usual orderly line to get in was all discombobulated. Enough that I looked over to see what was going on as I finished up more winterizing in the dim light. Maybe my presence does it, I don't know, it hasn't been consistently so in the past. She was pecked off the perch bar at the doorway and had to try again. Last night too she had to run a gauntlet to get in and roost. To her credit both times she eventually makes a run at it and storms the gates, blowing by whoever it is, and endures some pecks along the way. Then things settle down. Maybe it's the seasonal change?

 

[featherhead007]

Yeah I agree with everyone, in that there's some other dynamic here going on that just happens to be focused on the nestbox and whatever that means to them I think they have to work it out themselves, mostly. Once Maggie knew Dotty was intent on getting in there she even went to look and found her in there, so I'm not sure sight blocks would work. They will work it out, or not. Maybe it's the seasonal change, and Maggie's molt. So it may take some time.

Dotty will have to learn to be more secretive with Maggie. Possibly options for being in a nestbox that is in a totally different location will help. But that's in the future. Because Dotty wasn't choosing anywhere else right then either. It was a battle of wills.

Somebody decided to give Popcorn a hard time roosting today, there was serious pecking and yelping leading up to roosting, the usual orderly line to get in was all discombobulated. Enough that I looked over to see what was going on as I finished up more winterizing in the dim light. Maybe my presence does it, I don't know, it hasn't been consistently so in the past. She was pecked off the perch bar at the doorway and had to try again. Last night too she had to run a gauntlet to get in and roost. To her credit both times she eventually makes a run at it and storms the gates, blowing by whoever it is, and endures some pecks along the way. Then things settle down. Maybe it's the seasonal change?

Want a change in coop dynamics? Put a big mirror in the coop (unbreakable one) and watch the change in attitude!

 

[featherhead007]

I know this going to cost me more tax, but I couldn’t resist.

 

[LaFemmeKatia]

So happy!

That is good news. The part about her being found I mean.

 

[rural mouse]

Belt Hatchery Fresno California. (My contact is Andrew, if still available)

They do have dominiques listed. I suppose it's possible she's an accidental cross between barred rock and dominique. They're smaller than the rocks. It's also possible she's simply smaller with lighter toned legs.

 

[rural mouse]

@featherhead007 weirdly marked rock: Cuckoo

And total sweetheart