Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[HiEverybirdy]

something should be happening that isn’t, etc.

Andre crows when his preferred feeder doesn't have enough of his favorite pellets in it Stilton crows when I'm talking on the cellphone around him. Back when he was still a young stinker, he used to kick me for talking on the phone. He has strong opinions.

he has walked up a hill or gotten on a perch and crowed for no other apparent reason than he just seemed happy to crow just then. Perhaps crows vary from rejoicings to reactions

Evidently wild birds may be rejoicing sometimes when they sing, so why not chickens? https://www.wpr.org/animals/why-do-songbirds-sing-because-it-feels-good-researchers-say

 

[Vulpes vulpes]

In observing my rooster in his small flock setting, crowing has primarily seemed to be a type of calibration/recalibration measure, in other words, he quite often crows when he feels offset due to an external or internal stimulus and uses crowing to reset himself or the environment. He reactionary crows to: (Externals) Strange persistent sounds, other roosters, hen won’t cooperate, something should be happening that isn’t, etc. Once his internal re-calibration point is seemingly reached, crowing ceases for the time being. Aside from the perceptible reasons for crows, he has walked up a hill or gotten on a perch and crowed for no other apparent reason than he just seemed happy to crow just then. Perhaps crows vary from rejoicings to reactions

It could be that since sometimes crowing is used to keep track of where everyone is (like with rjf or chickens in a tribe setting) that roosters also see it as a way to get their bearings, especially when something strange is happening. Studies show that roosters modulate their warning calls based on who's around, so crowing allows them to keep tabs on who they'd need to warn AND who will warn them if there's a threat. Because of this, it would be useful to see how many pairs of eyes are nearby before you go and investigate something potentially dangerous. With all I've been learning about crowing lately, I wouldn't be surprised if roosters use crowing for navigational purposes as well, to sort of triangulate where they are based on the last known locations of everyone else. This would be especially useful if they're in an unfamiliar part of the territory. This is all just conjecture though, I'd be really excited to put my hypotheses to the test if given the opportunity

 

[Vulpes vulpes]

I feel like I'm overdue on some taxes, so here:

Foraging group with a senior rooster and a couple more on the periphery.

Another veteran rooster (front) with who I think is his son behind. He's very beautiful and a very good rooster just like the other dom, but the owner has threatened to shoot him because he leaves the property to forage in the pesticide-laden neighboring properties. I tried to tell him that that's basically selecting against foraging ability and thus goes against their feral doomsday flock plans, but he won't listen

This young man was interested in what I was doing. I think he'll grow up to be very pretty

 

[Shadrach]

I was making the same assumption when looking for an explanation as to why my cockerels leave it late to start crowing. Digging a bit deeper, I've now come to the conclusion that our birds are normal and very young cockerels (chicks) aren't really crowing, whatever weird sounds come out of their beaks.

My reasoning is as follows. Chickens are birds, so what ornithology has to say about bird vocalisations is relevant. Ornithology usually distinguishes between calls, which are short, simple, usually single note/ sounds made by both sexes throughout the year (like alarm calls), and songs, which are long, complicated sounds produced normally by males only, with some seasonal and regional exceptions (Australasia, notably, and we've all read about crowing hens). So a crow is a sort of song. Song is said to have two principal functions, territorial defence, and mate attraction. Crowing starting up when the cockerel reaches sexual maturity obviously fits, being consistent with this. Our cockerels are behaving normally, no additional explanation required. Crowing in an immature cockerel is what requires explanation, assuming it is really crowing of course.

I to have been surprised when I read posts of weeks old cockerels crowing.
The least time I can recall is around four months. Maybe I missed some.
It's interesting how much the personality of both senior rooster and cockerels plays in how the cockerel behaves. Mag for example didn't crow close to his dad until he was around 10 months old. Notch on the other hand would go for his brother Rip if he crowed.
Neither Major or Oswald were bothered by their sons crowing. Henry wasn't bothered by Dig crowing although he did give Dig some dirty looks.

If one records a roosters crow and put it through a frequency analyzer there is a lot of variation in the output from crow to crow. Put enough samples through the analyzer and one can see groups of samples with similar characteristics. This could be explained by allowing for unintentional changes in tone and emphasis much as we can saw the same thing over and over and produce similar variation in frequency. But, if it could be proven that these groups of crow samples are not a random event, then one has language.
The only solid example that I have witnessed is a roosters air predator warning call. It's graduated relative to the predators proximity. I've heard this so many times I can write this is how the tribe roosters behaved in Catalonia.

 

[Shadrach]

Andre crows when his preferred feeder doesn't have enough of his favorite pellets in it Stilton crows when I'm talking on the cellphone around him. Back when he was still a young stinker, he used to kick me for talking on the phone. He has strong opinions.


Evidently wild birds may be rejoicing sometimes when they sing, so why not chickens? https://www.wpr.org/animals/why-do-songbirds-sing-because-it-feels-good-researchers-say

All I think we can say with absolute certainty is people who say SHE always has to have the last word, haven't heard a couple of roosters going at it.
I've lain on my bed in Catalonia trying to sleep a little until the midday heat subsides with doors and windows open, listening to these crowing contests. One thinks they've stopped and just as the eyes close one starts the other off again.

 

[Shadrach]

Two hours. Horrid weather. Rain at varying intensities with 40mph wind gusts. More of the same due tomorrow due to a passing storm further North.
We got out; and back in, on and off.

 

[notabitail]

Two hours. Horrid weather. Rain at varying intensities with 40mph wind gusts. More of the same due tomorrow due to a passing storm further North.
We got out; and back in, on and off.
View attachment 4226764View attachment 4226765View attachment 4226766View attachment 4226767View attachment 4226768

The inside of the coop looks quite cozy with that weather outside.

 

[Shadrach]

The inside of the coop looks quite cozy with that weather outside.

It's been a good coop. It could be an excellent coop with a few modifications. I'll be interested to see how the new small Nestera coop does compared to the Solway.

 

[Vulpes vulpes]

The inside of the coop looks quite cozy with that weather outside.

I was just about to say the same! It looks like raindrops on the window.

I've had to ride out some bouts of inclement weather by ducking into a chicken coop. It's an odd sense of camaraderie sharing a shelter with the birds, but they always look at me like "why are you here?"

 

[fuzzi]

I went back and checked for the first time I heard a "crow"...

Wait for it...

They were 10 weeks old.