Runaway! Runaway!

[Knittycat]

My little fuzzybutts have been spending the afternoon pecking at discolored bits of pine shavings, random spots in the litter (it's funny to watch them all stand around one spot very much like another, and all of them just PECKPECKPECK at nothing!), and occasionally each other's toes. A few minutes ago a rather large fly flew in to their brooder, and they all ran away from it peeping in terror! TOO CUTE!

 

[gryeyes]

Every now and then, an ant gets into the brooder. Several of the chicks become fixated on watching it amble across the pine shavings, up and down into crevices and back into view. Eventually, one will peck at it. And then peck again as the ant escapes. Everybody else crowds around. The lucky chick gets the ant, and immediately dashes away. Everybody swarms after it. Lord knows if the ant is actually eaten or not.

Another antic: pecking randomly at the sides of the brooder. Peck. Peck. Peck. Peckpeck peck. Dunno what that's about, because I can never see a mark there. Whatever! (But it's still cute.)

 

[Knittycat]

HA! Yeah, they all have taken a peck or two at the walls. Silly chicks.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

I brood my chicks outside so flying bugs often get into their box when the weather is warm.

The first time a big moth or some such gets in they all run away until the inevitable bold one finally gets up the courage to give it a try to discover them's good eatin'!

After that any bug fool enough to fly into their box is quickly dispatched. More than once I've seen them snatched out of the air.

 

[debid]

Well, you know, it could have been a really tiny hawk...

They're smart peeps and know things flying in from above should be presumed dangerous.

 

[Gypsy07]

Quote:
Sounds familiar. The chicks I just hatched out a month ago, when they were still small and fluffy, I had friends coming over to see them all the time. One day someone asked about them pecking at things and I said 'Oh they're so funny, they'll peck at just about anything.' Friend said 'No way!' I said 'Yes way. I bet if I drew a dot on the wall they'd peck at it!' I was just guessing, but friend insisted on seeing it. So I got a magic marker and put a dot on the wall. (Thinking: Pleeeease silly chickies, pleeeease don't let me down!) And sure enough they all ran over and started fighting to get at it. I made another dot, and they all ran away from the first one and started pecking at the second one. Soon the brooder wall was covered in loads of little dots and we were falling about laughing for ages. Silly chicks!!!