Preening or pecking- I say preening

[Gargoyle]

Tessa and Terooha are about 20 weeks old. Tessa is shy, and Terooha really takes care of her, he even gives her food when others are feeding and hold back from the trough (she's intimidated by the two older hens). They perch together often during the day, and today I caught her preening him (I've seen a bit of that before).

I say this is sweet preening and is not feather picking or pecking- what do you think? Note that she never pulls feathers out.

 

[Den in Penn]

Her behavior at this point I would say is preening. But where is the line between the two? How easy is it to cross that line? A little bit for me to think about.

 

[Gargoyle]

She isn't actually pulling any feathers out, that's why I think it's just preening. Right after the video ended and he turned, she did a bit more on the upper back part of his wing, again she didn't pull anything out.

 

[Den in Penn]

Since she has been doing this for long enough for you to notice and record I would say she won't cross that line. BTW I wasn't really asking for more information, just saying it was something to ponder when I let the chickens out for their free range time. An other thing I think I will ponder on is how long will the idem of "taping" a moving picture be used? We have gone from "filming" while using the new technology of video tape. To now using "taping" when using digital storage on hard drive of our moving images. I think its time for me to sign off and do something else for a while.