Funny/Sad/Happy stories of your chickens

[MageofMist]

Hm, weird... Maybe they'll chill out as they get older

Hopefully.

I returned from the back yard as, 3 out of 5 of the silkie chicks said it was too cold, so I brought them in, with some protest from the two that was still foraging and scratching about.

Also, the rooster picked a chick up by it's neck fluff and tried to run off with it! So I grabbed him which made him drop the chick. Thankfully the chick was unharmed, and later on the rooster and another chick were casually trotting around a bucket together, him trying to catch the chick, but was too lazy to run, and the chick just keeping itself out of beak's reach while nibbling on seeds.
The hen also tried pecking at a chick, but it did a warning call and it's siblings all jumped and fluttered to it, all of them staring up at the hen. She raised up her neck feathers to try and intimidate them, but they refused to budge from their 'wall' in front of the threatened chick, so she walked off.

Other than those tense moments, the chicks and chickens got along fine. The chicks were sunbathing on me which caused the hen to sunbathe behind me, and when the rooster was drinking some water, one of the chicks was foraging right next to him and he didn't seem to mind. The cat also came out to snooze on her 'nest' a patch of flattened down dry grass, and the chicks ran over to investigate and started scratching and pecking about around her. Angel was very well behaved, just resting there watching the chicks with squinted eyes, and got alert whenever she heard another bird fluttering by or saw the adult chickens getting too close.

 

[PeepersMama]

Hopefully. 

I returned from the back yard as, 3 out of 5 of the silkie chicks said it was too cold, so I brought them in, with some protest from the two that was still foraging and scratching about. 

Also, the rooster picked a chick up by it's neck fluff and tried to run off with it! So I grabbed him which made him drop the chick. Thankfully the chick was unharmed, and later on the rooster and another chick were casually trotting around a bucket together, him trying to catch the chick, but was too lazy to run, and the chick just keeping itself out of beak's reach while nibbling on seeds.
The hen also tried pecking at a chick, but it did a warning call and it's siblings all jumped and fluttered to it, all of them staring up at the hen. She raised up her neck feathers to try and intimidate them, but they refused to budge from their 'wall' in front of the threatened chick, so she walked off.

Other than those tense moments, the chicks and chickens got along fine. The chicks were sunbathing on me which caused the hen to sunbathe behind me, and when the rooster was drinking some water, one of the chicks was foraging right next to him and he didn't seem to mind. The cat also came out to snooze on her 'nest' a patch of flattened down dry grass, and the chicks ran over to investigate and started scratching and pecking about around her. Angel was very well behaved, just resting there watching the chicks with squinted eyes, and got alert whenever she heard another bird fluttering by or saw the adult chickens getting too close.

Aww!!! Sounds like the chicks are all really good friends!

 

[MageofMist]

Aww!!! Sounds like the chicks are all really good friends!

The chicks are all very close to one-another, despite their little scuffles over treats they have every now and then, and are also very close to me. XD They wander off to forage which I am fine with as long as they don't go too far, but when something spooks them, when I pat my leg they all come dashing over to me and snuggle me, either against or on-top of my leg.

When the rooster dropped the shrieking chick after I grabbed him, all it's siblings ran over to check on it. The rooster didn't really know how to react with me pinning him for a few moments, as it is actually the first time I ever needed to do it, as trying to steal babies for dinner is not acceptable behaviour! After I let him go and he decided to finally hop off me after laying there for a bit, I checked on the chick who was huddled up with it's siblings against my leg peeping up a storm with them, and it wasn't even missing any strands of fluff, just a little shaken up.

 

[PeepersMama]

The chicks are all very close to one-another, despite their little scuffles over treats they have every now and then, and are also very close to me. XD They wander off to forage which I am fine with as long as they don't go too far, but when something spooks them, when I pat my leg they all come dashing over to me and snuggle me, either against or on-top of my leg.

When the rooster dropped the shrieking chick after I grabbed him, all it's siblings ran over to check on it. The rooster didn't really know how to react with me pinning him for a few moments, as it is actually the first time I ever needed to do it, as trying to steal babies for dinner is not acceptable behaviour! After I let him go and he decided to finally hop off me after laying there for a bit, I checked on the chick who was huddled up with it's siblings against my leg peeping up a storm with them, and it wasn't even missing any strands of fluff, just a little shaken up.

The only chickens I have ever seen get along like that were my buff brahmas. Peaches, Cooties, and Platypus. They were ALWAYS together. Never saw one of them peck the other til Platy-fatty died she was the glue in their friendship.

 

[MageofMist]

The only chickens I have ever seen get along like that were my buff brahmas. Peaches, Cooties, and Platypus. They were ALWAYS together. Never saw one of them peck the other til Platy-fatty died

she was the glue in their friendship.

The firstborn chick seems to be the glue to mine it seems. Whenever it takes a break from foraging and sits on my lap for pets, the others tend to split up to forage instead of sticking together. That or they all hop on my leg also for pettings and cuddles.

Also, there are moments I forget about the terrifying ancestry of my birds, thinking of them as adorable floofs... But a bluebottle fly flew into the brooder, it wasn't even fully past the mesh lid before a chick jumped up and SNAPPED IT OUT OF THE AIR before gulping it down whole and still alive to ensure it's siblings didn't steal it. Truly terrifying and a reminder of the fact they are living dinosaurs.

 

[PeepersMama]

The firstborn chick seems to be the glue to mine it seems. Whenever it takes a break from foraging and sits on my lap for pets, the others tend to split up to forage instead of sticking together. That or they all hop on my leg also for pettings and cuddles.


Also, there are moments I forget about the terrifying ancestry of my birds, thinking of them as adorable floofs... But a bluebottle fly flew into the brooder, it wasn't even fully past the mesh lid before a chick jumped up and SNAPPED IT OUT OF THE AIR before gulping it down whole and still alive to ensure it's siblings didn't steal it. Truly terrifying and a reminder of the fact they are living dinosaurs.   

Wow!!! I've only had one chicken that was that "predatorial" per say
I don't believe that chickens are dinosaurs.... I'm a Christian, so I believe that God made chickens as chickens from the start. Not judging you in any way, promise, but I couldn't not say something. It would've weighed on my conscience so bad

 

[MageofMist]

Wow!!! I've only had one chicken that was that "predatorial" per say

I don't believe that chickens are dinosaurs.... I'm a Christian, so I believe that God made chickens as chickens from the start. Not judging you in any way, promise, but I couldn't not say something. It would've weighed on my conscience so bad

Understandable! ^^ Though I am a bit of a dino nerd and found many similarities between ostriches and other modern day birds in dinosaurs, a type of Oviraptoid known as the Citipati basically acted as an ostrich at the time, the males sitting on the eggs of multiple females laid in a single nest that consisted of a 'bowl' dug into the ground. Though it could also be a co-incidence as there are many unrelated animals that share similar niches and traits, eg, the fossa and cat. The fossa was actually mistaken for a specie of cat until it was discovered they are related to ferrets, mongeese, badgers and such.

One of the chicks gave me a bit of a scare today, I have them outside in a secured pen while I do chores in the house, and when I went to sit with them for a bit, I saw what looked like a long cut on it's leg. I checked the pen and saw no way it could have cut itself, and brought it inside to check the 'cut.' After giving it a wipe with tissue, I realized that it wasn't a long cut, but a pulled pin feather, which was just a tiny dot of red compared to the line it looked like before. Either the chick pulled the pin too hard when preening, one of it's siblings pulled it, or it caught it somehow, but it soon stopped bleeding and after observing it and giving it lots of cuddles, I let the chick back out in the pen to continue playing.

 

[MageofMist]

Sadly we lost the runt quail chick. One of the 'bee' ones.

Unlike the others it was growing very slowly. The others were about double the size of it, so I knew something was wrong despite it looking healthy and active, and it just suddenly keeled over tonight with no warning.

 

[PeepersMama]

I've noticed many similarities too - like Malays! but if you think about it, "were you there"? No one ever saw these changes taking place back then, and the fossil record is quite faulty. Not only that, but there aren't any transitional forms in the fossil record either.
Just something to chew on, don't wanna start a big argument

Oh dang I remember awhile ago, one of my austra whites would lay down and close her eyes. A lot. Scared the life outta me she looked so much like she was sick

Sadly we lost the runt quail chick. One of the 'bee' ones.   Unlike the others it was growing very slowly. The others were about double the size of it, so I knew something was wrong despite it looking healthy and active, and it just suddenly keeled over tonight with no warning.

Aww, so sad

 

[AuntJamie]

Sadly we lost the runt quail chick. One of the 'bee' ones.   Unlike the others it was growing very slowly. The others were about double the size of it, so I knew something was wrong despite it looking healthy and active, and it just suddenly keeled over tonight with no warning.

Sorry to hear. Bee ones, though? What's that mean? We lost a NHR the other day. Crop problem. Thought it was something else going on until it was too late. I'm chalking it up to a learning experience.