Naughty girls

[haleychickmumma]

 

[haleychickmumma]

 

[haleychickmumma]

 

[haleychickmumma]

 

[iwiw60]

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Well, I don't see any "obvious" roo in the group...hmmmmm. About the only thing I can think of is that at 16 weeks of age they are what I call "weird teenagers" and just asserting their pecking order status. This could go on for several weeks. Hopefully things will settle down and all will be fine in chicken land once again, eh?!!

 

[iwiw60]

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Well I don't see any obvious roo in the group...hmmmmm. The only other thing I can think of is that at 16 weeks of age they are what I call "weird teenagers" and are likely asserting their pecking order status...things should settle down in a few weeks. But in the meantime hold treats in your hand, sit out there in the run with them and talk softly to them, give them a treat...it always helps.

 

[drumstick diva]

I agree I don't see any roosters -in- hiding though the Australorps do have a meanish expression. I guess hot weather could make them crabby - it always does to me. Have you tried giving them things to do? Some folks like to hang a head of cabbage just out of reach - so the birds have to jump at it to get some. That keeps them occupied for awhile. Sometimes parrot toys will amuse them.3 Do they have an area to dust bathe in?

BYC has a very good aussie thread called "Australia, six states and one funny little island." Maybe they can come up with more ideas than I. BTW Welcome to Backyard chickens, glad you joined the flock

 

[haleychickmumma]

 

[haleychickmumma]

 

[chooks4life]

Either this one's about to lay you an egg or it's a creeper male, lol. I've had some of those, go masquerading as hens until their sisters are laying then suddenly develop into obvious males, it's due to delayed puberty due to a heritable disorder.

None of your others look male at all.

How you raise them has something to do with it, but they're not blank slates at all; they carry inherited behavior patterns. I've always found hatchery-bought hens far more likely to have behavioral problems as compared to backyard raised hens. It can take years to change it, really the biggest change occurs in their offspring and grand-offspring. That's where the permanent changes are.

I've been through years of Aussie seasons with my chooks and never seen temperament fluctuate in response to temperature, but, one important exception to that rule is for prolonged drought. Prolonged flooding is no biggie; prolonged drought brings out desperation in both animals and humans. Course, in a few places in Aus we've been in drought for years now, but even outside of drought season commercial hatchery hens are notoriously vicious.

Best wishes.