Impressive Behavior

[microchick]

With bad behaviors the rule of the day, I thought I'd try for a little humor.

This week our flock did something that left me slack jawed. Early in the afternoon, I heard the roosters start to raise a fuss the way they do when one of the hens lays an egg. Pretty soon every hen had joined in. The noise was impressive and my first thought was 'that must have been one heck of an egg' except when I went out side to retrieve something from the car, all the chickens were out in their run, standing up as tall as they could and yelling at the top of their lungs. Their attention was on the road and when I slammed the car door shut, I found out what was bothering them. A flock of about 20-25 wild turkeys took off from the tall brush between our fence and the road, flew across the road and into the timber. I hadn't seen them, but the roosters had and had set up the alarm.

Pretty impressive observation, IMHO. I have been finding feathers from the turkey flock on our trails in our timber, but these birds were in sight of our house and the chicken run.

I had no idea that the roosters would see them as a potential threat.

Then this morning, I pulled on a pair of bright pink clogs in order to go out and let the birds out in their pen for the day. Once out I noticed one of the Welsummer roosters was coming up behind me a little closer than usual. I turned and held my foot out, telling him, no further and the little jerk attacked my clog. He wasn't persistant with his behavior and I listed it under morning hormone surge but went out later to 'pull his tail feathers a bit' so to speak and do an attitude adjustment on him. No problem. When I strode towards him, he did what he was supposed to do and got out of my way. When my husband asked me if he was destined for freezer camp I had to chuckle when I told him, no. He just didn't like those godawful pink clogs. Can't fault the bird for having good taste. Those clogs are really ugly.

So what have your birds done recently to impress you or make you laugh?

 

[sunflour]

Thanks for sharing, glad I passed up some hot pink clogs I found on sale recently.

The first time my flock demonstrated the "egg chorus" in their run, had been working in the yard, moving some things out of my work area. A metal bench that had been only 10 feet or so away from them forever, got moved closer to their home. I was so confused about the event and they kept on singing until I moved the bench back to the original location and the singing stopped.

They do this a few times a week when there is absolutely nothing of danger, and IMO are just poking fun at me to see how I react..

Don't know if you are familiar or maybe even posted to this thread, but think you might enjoy it:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...books-dont-tell-you-my-experience-as-a-newbie

 

[aart]

Funny about the turkeys....I've had a group of 2 hens and about 15-20 poults cruising thru the yard occasionally all summer and the chickens never seem alarmed or even particularly interested in them, not do the turkeys seem interested in or alarmed by the chickens. They stroll thru the field about 10 feet from the run snagging bugs and seeds on their way.

Funnier, my dog indignantly barks at the turkeys from the window and they are under whelmingly impressed......
......but when I started my very loud, big cat impression they skedaddled pretty darn quick into the woods...lol!

I've watched those poults get bigger and bigger and look more and more delicious.

 

[microchick]

We managed to get a picture of one of the turkey's on our game camera back in our timber. These are good sized birds and I bet they were attracted by the abundance of grasshoppers in our yard and pasture. Last year we had a turkey hen nesting near one of our ponds. She abandoned the nest when one of our dogs spooked her. We had hoped she would come back but never did.


I've noticed that our flock is pretty intollerant of any birds that venture too close to their territory. I've witnessed one of the Buff O hens chasing a sparrow about their run, flapping her wings,head and neck out straight, she didn't stop until that bird got the message and left their run.

I like that the flock has become an early warning system for us. They don't say too much about our dogs hanging out around the run or coop, but they seem to know what belongs and what doesn't.

I have read that geese make good sentries but have never heard of chickens taking up watch.

 

[donrae]

Funny about the clogs....

I wear orange Crocs, and the birds always seem to need to check and be sure they're not edible

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