Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Perris]

I do as well. They're welcome to post here.

Thanks.

I don't want to discomfort you on your 'home' thread. But when we disagreed for the nth time over fitting terminology for different aspects of chicken social structures and behaviour, you tried to discredit me as a source, which is a thickhead's tactic not a scholar's (as well as a sure sign of an absence of substantial argument). Communication depends on speaking the same language.

We have had some great discussions a long way back on this thread; less so recently. I may continue to look in, but I don't anticipate contributing as before, so you can stay comfortable on your roost. At the same time, it is difficult to stay quiet when I think something is really wrong, so avoidance is the only strategy available then. We'll just have to see how it goes.

 

[Shadrach]

A sunny, if a bit chilly, afternoon. Two hours today. Everyone went onto the field for the duration. Mow ate half a tin of sardines, Sylph and Glais ate the other half.

 

[Shadrach]

Why do chickens stand on one leg?

On general I have good balance. A few Parkinson group meetings ago one of the compensating exercises suggest was to do a range of balance exercises, most of which I was able to do.
Standing on one leg with the raised foot/ankle touching the calf of the standing leg for ten seconds was the initial challenge. It's a lot more difficult than it reads.
I'm up to 26 seconds now.

What's interesting is what body areas have ached when trying to achieve those 26 seconds. It's almost a full body workout.

Chickens do it lots. Do they do it as a form of exercise?

 

[kattabelly]

I often find myself standing on one leg if I have to stand still for any length of time. Don't know why I do it, other than it's more comfortable. Maybe I'm secretly a chicken

I think warming their feet is at least part of the reason chickens do it, but not sure what all the other reasons might be. Sometimes I think they're considering their options before taking a step, similar to how they can spend ages head-bobbing before jumping or flying somewhere.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Why do chickens stand on one leg?

On general I have good balance. A few Parkinson group meetings ago one of the compensating exercises suggest was to do a range of balance exercises, most of which I was able to do.
Standing on one leg with the raised foot/ankle touching the calf of the standing leg for ten seconds was the initial challenge. It's a lot more difficult than it reads.
I'm up to 26 seconds now.

What's interesting is what body areas have ached when trying to achieve those 26 seconds. It's almost a full body workout.

Chickens do it lots. Do they do it as a form of exercise?

Other than the days of incredible cold, when I see the girls on one foot, they’re doing their stretches.

The free foot goes backwards. The wings go out; not flapping, just extending, and their entire bodies seem to expand for a moment. They hold the pose a few moments, and then go back to the all-important task of scratching.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Other than the days of incredible cold, when I see the girls on one foot, they’re doing their stretches.

The free foot goes backwards. The wings go out; not flapping, just extending, and their entire bodies seem to expand for a moment. They hold the pose a few moments, and then go back to the all-important task of scratching.

- I don’t have Parkinson’s, but I have sh!t balance. And when you have arthritic knees and hips, that’s pretty dangerous. I’m thinking of imitating the Chicken Stretch. Other than possible (probable) damage to my dignity, I can’t see how it would hurt.

 

[kattabelly]

Other than the days of incredible cold, when I see the girls on one foot, they’re doing their stretches.

The free foot goes backwards. The wings go out; not flapping, just extending, and their entire bodies seem to expand for a moment. They hold the pose a few moments, and then go back to the all-important task of scratching.

Aka Virabhadrasana III / Warrior 3

For older / inflexible / wobbly people wanting to do chicken stretches, I'd recommend starting with something more like Vrikshasana/Tree pose, with your free leg lifted just high enough for the foot to rest against the very bottom of your other calf. If that's too hard at first, try doing a similar pose but with both knees facing forwards and the side of your free foot, rather than the sole, touching the other leg.

 

[kattabelly]

Think I mentioned a while back that I was thinking of putting together an article about ideas for temporary / moveable / cheap / simple "constructions" (using that term generously!) to provide shelter from the weather and/or predation. I'm thinking I will try to get it done in the next few months and I'd love to include photos and other info from as many people (with their permission obviously!) in as many different climates and keeping setups as possible. Don't want to hijack the thread any further - hope Shadrach won't mind this too much, if I promise to pay extra tax later today - but please PM me if you think you might have anything that I could include.

Tax from the archives for now, because my phone is out of memory for new photos again

 

[Perris]

Do they do it as a form of exercise?

I think warming their feet is at least part of the reason chickens do it, but not sure what all the other reasons might be.

There are quite a lot of reasons given with respect to the best known exponents of the behaviour (flamingos), though evidently at least one of them (their biomechanics) may well be inapplicable to chickens
https://bird-life.com/why-flamingos-stand-on-one-leg-the-real-reason-1-5504/