Roost behaviour-anyone ever watched them?

[User395221]

When you build wonderful spacious 2X4 perches in the coop and several natural branch and 2X4 roosts in their spacious run and no one will go on any of them it's just like....

I used to have this cat. I got him from the cat orphanage. He was very thin. Emaciated. I looked up what cats like to eat, and cooked him up a "mutton stew" (people food, basically). I thought, he's gonna love this.... He turned his nose up and wouldn't touch it......

And from that day on, I never expected any of my menagerie to appreciate my efforts, and they haven't.

 

[User395221]

all she does is give "the look" and everyone seems to fall in line

I'm ready to do her bidding, and I've never even met her

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm ready to do her bidding, and I've never even met her

LOL She is really quite sweet and chatty (with me), but when it comes to first dibs on ANYTHING she wants, she just LOOKS. Sometimes the look may be accompanied by a very small low whine sound, but usually just being present is enough to make them scatter.

 

[User395221]

she just LOOKS.

That LOOK is scary. When I was lurking the other night and the "boss girl" came in, she came at me with the LOOK. I thought she was going to attack me. I pushed her away and she went, but the look scared me a bit.

My "bunny girl" (the girl who cleans my hutches) is scared of chooks. When I got one of them, the chook jumped up on her back. She's now scared that chooks will jump on her..... I remember that I used to be scared of the black swans when I was little kid. That intensity when they are coming at you, especially with that intense look can be quite alarming.

 

[Gavinthesheep735]

love this thread

 

[black_dove2]

I think the Head Hen is about attitude. Some I suppose can be rule by power. My girl is probably one of the largest, but all she does is give "the look" and everyone seems to fall in line

This is her on a pleasant day - LOL
View attachment 1079001

I've this picture! She really does have that Mom look of I'm warning you even before you thought about doing it, LOL.


I personally think this. Is a great picture for the upcoming calendar.

 

[lazy gardener]

From what I saw, I don't think that'll work. My girls could have spread out onto the new roost, yet they all performed the drama of pushing and selecting "their spot". Another thing I find/found interesting is how the "boss chook" isn't necessarily the biggest. My white sussex is HUGE, but she's obviously not in charge. When madam pushed in and pushed the girl off the end, Marcy moved over to let her do what she wanted.

Regarding adding an extra roost: yes, it did work. Still a little drama, but no where as much as there had been. The Teens were still in and out of the coop multiple times last night before they settled down. But, there was no where as much yelling and screaming going on. The 2 new roosts are 48" long, perpendicular to the existing ones, and almost as high as the favored "big girl" perch. So, the Teens can perch nice and high, but the Bigs can't get to them to knock them off. And the Bigs aren't about to give up their favored perch, b/c they want to be with their roo.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I've this picture! She really does have that Mom look of I'm warning you even before you thought about doing it, LOL.
I personally think this. Is a great picture for the upcoming calendar.

Thanks
The picture is not that good of quality, I was playing around with trying to make a still out of video. I really need to drag out the camera and tripod to get something nice.

 

[Katherine Robertson]

To me there is always "drama" during roosting time. Some peck one another because they don't want to sleep next to each other, some get down, protest, reposition - like you say, it can be quite a show. My rooster has a favorite girl and she MUST be beside him, so he does some shoving/moving to make room for her LOL I have one girl that wants NO ONE beside her (even in winter), she takes a different roost by herself and protests/grumbles mightily if someone gets next to her.

I have pullets that have recently moved into the coop as well, it's been even MORE drama, LOL. I do have a cam in my coop so I can watch some of it - it's better than regular TV

I need to do that stat!

 

[PinkMinnow]

We actually have a camera in the roost, so we watch them all the time. We got a set of wi-fi cameras that have infrared mode. I primarily got it so I could know that they were all roosted before coming out to shut them in at night, and secondarily so that I could monitor for predators/anyone bothering them. (It has motion sensors with alerts to my phone.)

What I didn't realize is that it would become a really cool way to 'check on the girls'! I found that I just love watching them. They're usually pretty tame after dark and don't move much, though. And it's really funny to see how they line up with each other...the way they group on the roosting bars is different than I would have anticipated based on the way they interact with each other when they're out and about.