MJ's little flock

[BY Bob]

Mary's pecking habit

1. Approach heavily and ponderously at a walk
2. Accelerate to a jog
3. Give up

Not as good a strategy!

 

[BY Bob]

I wonder if you see something like this Bob.
Top hen doesn't bother with most of the disputes and everybody gets out of her way.
Second hen here is often the tribe minder. They are in general the best all rounders I've found.
The last from the bottom is often the most trouble.

I have just that situation now. Hattie is my coolest hen. She sits at number 2. She will stand watch over the flock as the sentinel hen, checking for predators, and she kept an eye on Maleficent and Aurora's interactions.

Lilly as alpha, focuses primarily on Hattie at roost time when Hattie took her spot and was vicious over roosting location.

To my observation, the battle between last and next to last is never ending. Even if the last place hen has conceded the position completely. When the flock is only 3 number 2 acts decidedly differently. It is one of the reasons I preferred the flock of 4. It is much calmer for all involved.

It will be interesting to see how Hattie's and Aurora's interactions change now with Maleficent no longer in the picture. Especially so now that they are forced to live in close quarters.

 

[LozzyR]

I like podcasts too! What's your favourite?

I’ve got quite a few, which is probably why they keep getting away from me! I listen to some of Triple J’s podcasts; ‘Hack’, ‘The Hook-up’, ‘Dr Karl’ etc, others like ‘The Teacher’s Pet’, ‘The Lighthouse’ and some American ones such as ‘Serial’ and ‘Unraveled’. Oh, and ‘The Duclutter Hub’ and ‘Parental as Anything’. Just as well I’ve got lots of wire to put up!

 

[MaryJanet]

Unfortunately there are no good guides on chicken communication.
I have over 30 recorded and identified calls.
There are a few that are relatively easy to identify. A lot of observation of what actually happens when these calls are made does eventually give a valid conclusion regarding what they mean.
I wrote an article for BYC on one very misunderstood call.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-not-about-the-egg-it’s-an-escort-call.74386/Other relatively easy to identify calls are for examples;
The predator warning call given by roosters. There are two main types, one for aerial predators and another for ground predators or perceived threats.
The I've found food call.
The send chicks to cover call.
The return to mother call.
The heads up call for creatures events that are not perceived as an immediate threat.
The make nest call.
And many more.

Shad, your work on this is fascinating. I hope you'll write it up in detail one day.

 

[MaryJanet]

Yes, you're right, it's also way more fun than trying to read up and becoming a chicken scholar

How are you're girls doing now?

They're doing very well. Eating well, drinking well, foraging well, apparently not suffering from stress, and simply being chickens to the extent that's possible in a suburban backyard.

 

[LozzyR]

Mary's pecking habit

1. Approach heavily and ponderously at a walk
2. Accelerate to a jog
3. Give up

When Bessie and Charlie were young pullets, they once sidled up to Lucy who was having a dirt-bath. When they got too close she stood up and took a couple of steps towards them. They took off and she returned to what she was doing!

 

[LozzyR]

Unfortunately there are no good guides on chicken communication.
I have over 30 recorded and identified calls.
There are a few that are relatively easy to identify. A lot of observation of what actually happens when these calls are made does eventually give a valid conclusion regarding what they mean.
I wrote an article for BYC on one very misunderstood call.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-not-about-the-egg-it’s-an-escort-call.74386/Other relatively easy to identify calls are for examples;
The predator warning call given by roosters. There are two main types, one for aerial predators and another for ground predators or perceived threats.
The I've found food call.
The send chicks to cover call.
The return to mother call.
The heads up call for creatures events that are not perceived as an immediate threat.
The make nest call.
And many more.

I went looking on YouTube once to see if there were any videos on different chicken vocalisations. I couldn’t find any. I’d be interested in hearing your recordings, Shad, and their explanations. Charlie still surprises me with new sounds; when she gets hot she honks like a goose!

 

[RoyalChick]

I have just that situation now. Hattie is my coolest hen. She sits at number 2. She will stand watch over the flock as the sentinel hen, checking for predators, and she kept an eye on Maleficent and Aurora's interactions.

Lilly as alpha, focuses primarily on Hattie at roost time when Hattie took her spot and was vicious over roosting location.

To my observation, the battle between last and next to last is never ending. Even if the last place hen has conceded the position completely. When the flock is only 3 number 2 acts decidedly differently. It is one of the reasons I preferred the flock of 4. It is much calmer for all involved.

It will be interesting to see how Hattie's and Aurora's interactions change now with Maleficent no longer in the picture. Especially so now that they are forced to live in close quarters.

Yes! I have definitely noticed this since my flock came down to being only 3. It is now all much more complicated with more shifting of positions. It all seemed very set and calm when there were four.

 

[MaryJanet]

Seems like a sound strategy for the larger slower combatant.

As you suggested she would, she attends to pecking order more frequently than Mary or Janet.

Janet's pecking style is nonchalantly saunter close, zoom and... , damn, wasn't close enough they got away.

Thinking back to when Sandy arrived, introducing two new chooks is much better than one. I may even switch my plan from two pullets every two years to three pullets every three years. Sharing the pecking means there's less of it for each pullet and it relieves a lot of stress.

 

[Martaals]

They're doing very well. Eating well, drinking well, foraging well, apparently not suffering from stress, and simply being chickens to the extent that's possible in a suburban backyard.

Then again, what is natural nowadays? I'm not sure the suburb is a natural habitat for humans neither