Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Sylvester017]

This is fun.....

Get up ... you lazy bum!

 

[Sylvester017]

That rat has been visiting the local nail bar

Drastically... it needs a pedicure

 

[Sylvester017]

@lightm ~ TY SYNOPS

 

[Marie2020]

Get up ... you lazy bum!

This is Alex in the mornings

 

[kattabelly]

This time of year it doesn’t get dark till going on 10pm so they don’t want to go to bed at 8.

You need more daylight Sun sets at half past ten here, doesn't actually get dark until closer to midnight (we never get official nighttime dark this time of year, just twilight).

Sunrise is just after 4am, so the teens are taking themselves to bed by half past seven and the babies are only about an hour behind them.

 

[BY Bob]

Honestly that vet, was full of shite

I brood IN the hen house, within mere *days* all babies are integrated and no one gives a fig they are there. No one.

"pecking order" is something that is observed in *cooped up confined chickens* and no one talks about it, but it was not a thing until some guy in 1912 made it up -- watching cooped up, overcrowded chickens. The old article is available online in various places.

Yes, other chickens peck at other chickens -- for access to food. It's about food. Mainly. The nighttime shenanigans happens bc 'no I WANT TO ROOST HERE' and that's about it. Also as many people are already aware, if you have roosts of the same height, there is much less of that.

So in a free ranging (chickens natural environment) where they have lots of access to lots of food, there is... peace. I have 70 chickens and there are no fights. I open the door 2 hours after dawn (they know the routine) and they go on about their day and do their own thing. It's not in a backyard, I'm on 24 acres. They have the space to be chickens. IMO, what I'm observing is far more natural behavior and I spend a LOT of time observing.

The most ruckus that ever happens is a randy Cockerel getting too big for his britches.

You and I will not agree on this.

My group has a clear linear pecking order.

1. Aurora
2. Hattie
3. Sydney
4. Aster
5. Lady Featherington
6. Niamh
7. Nimue

But according to you, I do not have my chickens in a natural state so perhaps they have an unnatural society.

Despite the fact that they have unlimited food and water, my lot must have chosen to have a pecking order because they are contained.

I have watched my chickens closely as well since 2014 and have documented those observations here since 2016. Utilizing both in person and camera-based observations. If you are interested in my pecking order observations, feel free to read through the thread.

I have watched chickens advance in the order by being the first pullet to lay and then lose that position when the hen they passed starts laying and wrestles the spot back from them. I can tell by little behaviors who is ahead in the order. That's how I know Niamh is ahead of Nimue. There has never been any vicious pecking between them. If you are not attuned to the small details, you would never know.

I can also say that others who keep chickens in similar conditions and numbers to me do not have easily defined pecking orders.

Based on my conversations with others, the more chickens in the group the more fluid the pecking orders are. Even so, most will tell you who their lead hen(s) are. This tells me that there is some kind of established order even if it is not easily perceived by humans. Do you have a lead hen(s)?

To my thinking, chickens choose what kind of a society they wish to live in. Some, like mine, have a strict hierarchical society, while others have chosen a less strict more equalitarian society.

I submit that just because you don't see or recognize it, it doesn't mean there isn't some structure to your chicken's society.

But it could be that you are right and your chickens have forgone any kind of order to their society. Perhaps your chickens have chosen a true egalitarian society. I have no way of knowing.

What I can tell you is that mine have a strict hierarchical society and I don't believe it is because they are behind a fence in the suburbs. I chose to believe that they have chosen this way to live and would do so even with unlimited space.

 

[Sylvester017]

Poor Oliver doesn't look so good. He's eating but looks frail to me.
View attachment 4166417
Taking a sneaky peek at me.

I love his slow blink. I wish I could have him indoors
View attachment 4166418

He's so pretty! We had two all black kitties but they were females. The boys have nice fuller faces. Pray his funk goes away

 

[BY Bob]

Was LF ever harsh w/ Phyllis too? Kinda makes me wonder if that caused Phyllis' sudden injury. Just wondering thinking back over our older threads... but then you know your birds best As a helicopter parent I tend to overthink situations.

Phyllis was 3 places ahead of Lady Featherington in the pecking order. Lady Featherington had no chance to be harsh with Phyllis.

This behavior by Lady Featherington is driven by her wish to no longer be last in the pecking order. She is making certain that the Phyllistines join the group beneath her in the order. It's also why no one else is really messing with them. They are not concerned about what happens below then.

 

[BY Bob]

Look what i found on my travels

I hope you "liked" it .

 

[BY Bob]

Poor Oliver doesn't look so good. He's eating but looks frail to me.
View attachment 4166417
Taking a sneaky peek at me.

I love his slow blink. I wish I could have him indoors
View attachment 4166418

Yes. He looks like he would be a lovely companion.