MEAN FOREVER? Why Are They Acting This Way?

[jacyjones]

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Agreed!!

 

[Davaroo]

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Yes, she may be new at this....just like you or me once were. Try not to be so condescending.

condescending; adjective
Definition:
snobby: behaving toward other people in a way that shows you consider yourself socially or intellectually superior to them


A wise one once said: "The only stupid question is the one not asked."

Did you read the rest of it?

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Thank you for the feedback. Private message posted to the OP.

 

[jacyjones]

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Yes, she may be new at this....just like you or me once were. Try not to be so condescending.

condescending; adjective
Definition:
snobby: behaving toward other people in a way that shows you consider yourself socially or intellectually superior to them


A wise one once said: "The only stupid question is the one not asked."

Did you read the rest of it?

--------------------------------------------------------

Thank you for the feedback. Private message posted to the OP.

I do not think this post was at all condescending! It was truthful with some good, sound advice. I have learned a huge amount on this forum from proper answers like this one - thanks and keep it up!

 

[Davaroo]

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My favorite description of the broody hen is... "a demon posessed, fluffed-up beach ball - with an icepick."

 

[trilyn]

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Did you read the rest of it?

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Thank you for the feedback. Private message posted to the OP.

I do not think this post was at all condescending! It was truthful with some good, sound advice. I have learned a huge amount on this forum from proper answers like this one - thanks and keep it up!

Yeah, sorry-I didn't think Davaroo was being condescending at all-more like realistic! They are animals after all and well, let's face it; we do tend to "humanize" critters! That's all well and good, but the reality is they are birds and they do peck! They peck anything and everything that moves-it's what they do. They're not being mean or aggressive, it's perfectly normal behavior.

When I visit the coop, I better be sure to be wearing long pants or socks pulled up high. I have a few cuts on my legs and I am sooo fair game! My comet came up to me yesterday and did a dive bomb on a scab, ripped it wide open! Did I get mad, no-annoyed at myself-yes!! I know better-they're just doing what is natural. Look at them for what they are and you'll do just fine! Good luck!!

 

[cindyanne1]

I thought of something else...

It may also help to keep in mind how chickens treat each other. I've had pet birds nearly all my life, and my parrots and cockatiels always loved to be scratched. The chickens? Not so much. And they peck at each other a lot too. For all the fact they are flock birds and seem to need each other's company, they don't cuddle with each other very much.

It dawned on me that parrots and cockatiels will groom and scratch each other a lot, but I've never seen chickens do that. They don't cuddle together and mutually groom. So if they wouldn't want another chicken doing it, I really shouldn't expect them to enjoy a human doing it either. I'm sure some do, or at least seem to, but it's probably something they've learned to tolerate, vs. something they naturally enjoy. I dunno...

 

[Davaroo]

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If you consider that chickens have spent their ancestral life near the ground, it's no wonder they dont make time for cuddling, as you put it. Unlike arboreal birds, terrestrial ones have the constant threat of predation to contend with. And for the record, man at least represents a predatory threat to them.

Chickens as a species have only been closely bred for domestic purposes for a few centuries. They have been around for a lot longer, of course, and there have been attempts to tame them down through the millenia. The wide diversity in breeds, each part of the world developing it's own type, is evidence of that. In short, they are not the same birds as their wild jungle ancestors, which still exist in SE Asia. So, they have been changed.

And while there have been exceptions (the Egyptians, for example), breeding efforts have often been more about appearance or "gaminess," than food producing effectiveness.

The "need" for flocks of tame, egg laying, meat producing chickens was not really voiced until the middle 1800's and the onset of the Industrial Revolution. Prior to that, when agriculture was unmechanised, chickens were subordinate to more productive livestock and it was catch as catch can for them. Subsequently, the "wild" hasn't been flushed out of them yet.

I personlly doubt it ever will be.

 

[GAchick]

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Something I haven't seen anyone else mention, but... a 4x6 area isn't enough room for 12 chickens when grown. I hope you plan to either make a bigger coop, or re-home some chickens.

I too, agree with Davaroo. Chickens don't have human motives. They're just chickens.

 

[damselfish]

Lots of good info on this thread. One other thing that I had to learn as a newbie...beaks are the only tools chicks have for exploring their world.

They don't have fingers, they can't ask questions.

So pecking often=exploring, not aggression. Definitely give them hand treats (oatmeal is great), but be prepared to get nipped a little as they're eating.

 

[Davaroo]

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Excellent point. They peck at everything because, as you put it, thats all they have.

Probably why they love styrofoam so much. One peck and it oh, so, satisfyingly disintegrates....