Ribh's D'Coopage

[Ribh]

I know what you mean...if I go in the pen or if they see me coming, I get the whole gang under my feet, it's hard not to step on them. I actually took a video of them following me today, I was outside the fence, I'll be posting it to my thread...I love my flock!

Oh, gosh yes! Not stepping on them ~ especially my Littlies! And some days they go bonkers & are really daft, flying up into the food trays before I can set them down or onto my shoulders, or they stand there pecking @ my trousers so I can't move! They really do their best to communicate with us poor non hens.

 

[drstratton]

Oh, gosh yes! Not stepping on them ~ especially my Littlies! And some days they go bonkers & are really daft, flying up into the food trays before I can set them down or onto my shoulders, or they stand there pecking @ my trousers so I can't move! They really do their best to communicate with us poor non hens.

Exactly...I deal with this all the time...why can't we understand...

 

[RoyalChick]

Your instinct is probably correct. The lead hen isn't always the bossiest. My bossy girls are all middle order girls. My Frizzle is one & she's a super klutz & too heavy for any of the escape antics so she tends to take out her frustrations on my smaller girls who can & do escape regularly! Suyin is plain mean to everybody because she would like to be an only child! Morrigu was a lead hen in another life but can't dominate my big girls so rounds up the Littlies. And yet Lavender will tuck my bantams under her like chicks in cold weather & all my girls have been hanging round the little coop to keep Suyin company when they are let out so despite everything they look out for each other.

So interesting. They are fascinating creatures.
Maggie is the only one who goes for the Little Princesses and they are terrified of her. But if you look closely it is more like a game to her - sometimes she is fine around them and sometimes she lands a peck but mostly she runs at them and sends them into a flurry of excitement and then just stops. If she was really serious she could do real harm but it is like she just likes to keep them on their toes!

 

[WhoDatChick]

@Shadrach will tell you the so called pecking order is much more fluid than most people believe. Mine is quite egalitarian. I know which girls like to throw their weight around but they are all middle order girls. My lead hen tends to be very laid back & stays well out of any scuffles.

Same with my lead hen!

 

[Lids]

She really is something isn't she! I don't have other brownish hens either so she does really stand out.

You must have a similar soil & climate to us then. Most of our natives have a reputation for not doing so well in foreign soils.

Most of your flora grow extremely well here. The Western Cape province is overrun with Port Jacksons. We have gums trees galore. But then, a lot of South Africans are calling Oz home these days ☺

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

You didn't have a rooster then, did you?

Hi Lids!
It's nice to meet another Southern Hemisphere person!

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Oh dear. Our slang doesn't translate real well across the ocean. It just means a sleepless night.

You mentioned something about South Africa...? If you go to your account details you can add your general location ~ which is hugely helpful when we are discussing predators, medicines ~ or plants. ~ or when to curb the slang somewhat.

I'm glad @Lids asked. All this time I thought *white night* had something to do with the full moon and a cloudless sky.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

You must have a similar soil & climate to us then. Most of our natives have a reputation for not doing so well in foreign soils.

But when they find somewhere they like they can really take off. For instance the Melaleuca and the She-oak are a pest species in the Everglades in Florida.

 

[Ribh]

Most of your flora grow extremely well here. The Western Cape province is overrun with Port Jacksons. We have gums trees galore. But then, a lot of South Africans are calling Oz home these days ☺

One of my lads is married to a Zimbarbwian lass ~ slightly out of province I know~ & agrees there are quite a lot of similarities.

 

[Lids]

Okay, so I am all in with integration... just went ahead and left the little door open all day and tonight.. so we’ll see how it goes. It went very well today!
Here are some pic of the BG’s... and the middles in their secret hideout .. mama and babies.. and the flowers out in a little makeshift yard... View attachment 1764965View attachment 1764966View attachment 1764967View attachment 1764968View attachment 1764969View attachment 1764970View attachment 1764971View attachment 1764972View attachment 1764973View attachment 1764974View attachment 1764975View attachment 1764976

Love this round thing!