Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[TropicalBabies]

 

[Shadrach]

I've posted the first picture before but here it aids as a reminder.
Lima.

That hen over by the watering cans is Lima! and her bestie Similie of course. Lima just goes from strength to strength. It's a shame she no longer comes and jumps on my lap; she's far to busy being a chicken for all that boring human stuff. She goes everywhere at a trot which is so lovely. She seems full of energy (so she should given what she been fed over the past month) and has discovered she can hop over a place in the fence and Bucket Boy will come and get her when it's time to go to roost.

 

[Shadrach]

Not the greatest picture quality but...
I get into lots of trouble on various threads for saying chickens are tribal creatures and not flock creatures.
I've also mentioned on numerous occasions that given the choice, same breeds will stick together. Wait!.... It is more complicated than this but without writting an essay on why this is true and what the exceptions are and how it is possible for people to keep mixed groups etc etc...phew same breeds tend to stick together has to do.
Some have mentioned that it was what were apparently for some at least, my unusual keeping circumstances in Spain that were responsible for my assertion.
Well, nothing Spanish about this lot and they fit most of the back yard classifications, yet when they get out of the run they split into tribes. It's not that they won't and don't mix with the other breeds, but all the grey ones, mostly legbars/legbars crosses stay close to each other, Volt and Amp when they were alive did much the same. Even the Golden Comets soend more time with their own breed than they do with the Red Sex links.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Not the greatest picture quality but...
I get into lots of trouble on various threads for saying chickens are tribal creatures and not flock creatures.
I've also mentioned on numerous occasions that given the choice, same breeds will stick together. Wait!.... It is more complicated than this but without writting an essay on why this is true and what the exceptions are and how it is possible for people to keep mixed groups etc etc...phew same breeds tend to stick together has to do.
Some have mentioned that it was what were apparently for some at least, my unusual keeping circumstances in Spain that were responsible for my assertion.
Well, nothing Spanish about this lot and they fit most of the back yard classifications, yet when they get out of the run they split into tribes. It's not that they won't and don't mix with the other breeds, but all the grey ones, mostly legbars/legbars crosses stay close to each other, Volt and Amp when they were alive did much the same. Even the Golden Comets soend more time with their own breed than they do with the Red Sex links.View attachment 2914313

I've noticed the same with quail and sheep (especially those two), that similar looking animals stick together.

As for tribal animals, could you explain that a bit more? I haven't been on your other thread so I haven't heard that part before

 

[Shadrach]

The more time Henry gets out of the coop run the more like a rooster he behaves. He's more or less stopped worrying about me. He'll even come over when I call him. He's quite happy to take food out of my hand and compared to some of the hens he's incredibly gentle. Given how much larger he is than any of the hens it is quite easy to feed him treat first and this of course means his status goes up in the hens eyes. He'll eat a bit then drop a few bits fro his hens and then stand back while I lower my hand and hope I'll still have some fingers left while the hens grab anything they can get their beaks around.

 

[pennyJo1960]

From the time I was young birds of a feather flock together.
We did not call them tribes just knew they did it ..
Love hearing the stories. Even a old Bird can learn.

 

[NatJ]

I've also mentioned on numerous occasions that given the choice, same breeds will stick together....It's not that they won't and don't mix with the other breeds, but all the grey ones, mostly legbars/legbars crosses stay close to each other, Volt and Amp when they were alive did much the same. Even the Golden Comets soend more time with their own breed than they do with the Red Sex links.

Is it a matter of looking alike, or is it a matter of being raised together? I think it's fairly common for the same-appearance ones to also be same-breed, same-age, and raised together. It could be hard to sort out which of those points is actually more important to the chickens.

If someone got 1 each of several breeds, the same mix each year, I wonder if they would tend to stick with their yearmates or their breedmates. (If someone's flock does have this composition, I'd be quite interested in knowing how they interact.)

I also wonder if chicks raised by a hen might want to hang out with chickens that look like that hen, regardless of whether she was their biological mother or just raised them.

 

[Shadrach]

I've noticed the same with quail and sheep (especially those two), that similar looking animals stick together.

As for tribal animals, could you explain that a bit more? I haven't been on your other thread so I haven't heard that part before

I don't want to sidetrack this thread. The easiest way to understand a bit more on the subject would be to read a few of my articles and the thread linked to below.
The basis is, all chickens are descended from jungle fowl. What breeding and keeping methods have done is suppress what is natural to them, not erdicate it.
Jungle fowl live in family groups; one male to one breeding female is usual, sometimes two hens. Their offspring may stay with the breeding pair until they find mates of their own, or get driven out by the senior hen or rooster.
Related individuals are tolerated while outsiders are not.
That's the very basic starting point.
If you let a mixed group choose where they live and with whom they will choose to live with realatives, and/or others that look similar to themselves. Quite a few people who are interested in studying chicken behaviour have observed this.
There are complications and often this behaviour is not seen until one closes a group (no additions from outside) and let them breed.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/cooperative-behavior.1288804/

 

[Folly's place]

Here I think that hatchmates tend to stick together, rather than birds who look alike but are different ages. Broody raised birds will stay with their mama's pals too.
I have a small group of Belgian d'Uccles, started in 1992(?) who are all raised by broodies in this group, or occasionally are chicks from hatcheries, for genetic diversity. They started roosting in our barn, which was a terrible decision on our part, because of bad predator pressure. When we moved them to our coop the following year, about 100 ft' away, the broodies still hid eggs and wanted to set in the hay in the barn.
A couple of years later, a hidden hen setting in the hay was injured by a bale during a hay delivery. She hatched her chicks, and a few days later we all went for xrays. She had a dislocated hip, but was doing well, so she and her babies all moved to the coop. Her chicks, and all their offspring since, have stayed near the coop, and never go to the barn. A cultural shift, IMO, for this small group.
Mary
Sorry for the hijack! Back to Shad's story.

 

[Shadrach]

Is it a matter of looking alike, or is it a matter of being raised together? I think it's fairly common for the same-appearance ones to also be same-breed, same-age, and raised together. It could be hard to sort out which of those points is actually more important to the chickens.

If someone got 1 each of several breeds, the same mix each year, I wonder if they would tend to stick with their yearmates or their breedmates. (If someone's flock does have this composition, I'd be quite interested in knowing how they interact.)

I also wonder if chicks raised by a hen might want to hang out with chickens that look like that hen, regardless of whether she was their biological mother or just raised them.

It can be both. Same genes has been first and then if no blood realtives can be found to live with then it seems to go by looks next. It is more complicated and of course, how the chickens are kept has a huge influence.
One can only really see this in action when the chickens free range over acres of land and there are differnet breeds to start with.