I was out on my backyard plinking range with my Ruger 10/22 and some subsonic and quiet ammo, popping some spinner targets, the flock wandered over and intently investigated every fired brass case as it was ejected from the rifle, it was rather amusing. Not only were they not bothered by the sound of the 10/22 firing and the action slamming open and closed, they were fascinated by the shiny brass objects it spit out at them They were not in any danger, the targets were 25 yards away, and they were located behind me, at around the 4 o'clock position, they never went past the 3 o'clock position, that's where all the brass empties were ejecting.... What unusually brave behaviors have your chickens exhibited?
We launched fireworks just 10-15 feet from our chicken run. I was really surprised that they were not scared. That sat and watched us!
Mine stared in fascination at the guys from the tree service despite the raising and lowering of the bucket, the sounds of the chainsaws, the men yelling back and forth, and the din of branches and limbs hitting the ground. This was taking place about 20 feet from their run! When the mahem was over they raced each other to see which one of them would be first to the bugs in the bark and few remaining green leaves!
They're also not bothered by my garden tractor either, it's an old Kubota G5200 Diesel, and not exactly quiet.... As soon as they hear that 3 cylinder diesel fire up, they know tasty grass clippings are coming soon...
Their bravery is somewhat inconsistent. I have seen them following a cat walking across the backyard, but when a tiny kitten, no more than 4 weeks old, crawled under the back fence it was a sky is falling situation with clucking and flapping and running away.
Mine is a very brave girl, she'll go after out 10+ pound cat and our dogs that range from 16-28 pounds. She is head hen in this flock/house hold. At least when it comes to anyone under 3 feet tall. Not much scares her, she is more curious about new things then scared of them.
Well, it seems the girls really like my 10/22 for some reason, this afternoon I was out on the range again, the hens were scratching away in the copse of trees they love hanging out in, they hadn't seen me set up on the range yet... After the first couple shots, I saw them running towards me with an expectant look on their faces, like they were wondering if I had any treats on me, they watched me take a few more shots, inspected the empties, and then trundled off, dissapointed that all I had was my "stick that makes noise"