The hens survival strategy

[Shadrach]

@Shadrach you're kidding, right? Seriously, the rooster doesn't dust bathe because he's too proud? There's racism in chickens because one rooster he had preferred two particular hens? I give up.

You didn't like it then

 

[Shadrach]

@Shadrach you're kidding, right? Seriously, the rooster doesn't dust bathe because he's too proud? There's racism in chickens because one rooster he had preferred two particular hens? I give up.

How about The Chicken Challenge? Did you have a look at that?

 

[townchicks]

How about The Chicken Challenge? Did you have a look at that?

Not yet. Got things to do, I'll check it out later.

 

[Shadrach]

You didn't like it then

@Shadrach you're kidding, right? Seriously, the rooster doesn't dust bathe because he's too proud? There's racism in chickens because one rooster he had preferred two particular hens? I give up.

There are things I try to bear in mind when I read material posted on the internet; I don't always manage it.
Education level. Nothing to do with intelligence, or the accuracy of any information given.
Nationality. Many people write in English when it isn’t their first language.
Cultural Differences. Phrases, idioms, popular/sub culture influences.
Tone. I often fall foul with this.
Humour. Very difficult between cultures. I fall foul of this a lot, even between British and American.

I believe the man who wrote this blog is German and he is writing in English. Phrases and certain words have different connotations in other languages. The word racist doesn’t have quite the same meaning as racialist but gets misused in many languages.

You seem a bit outraged that he describes the cock as being too proud to dust bath. This may be humour. To me it isn’t any more ludicrous than those who have written on this forum that the sound a hen makes after she has laid an egg indicates her delight over her achievement.

For me anyway, the important point is what he has observed, because while I may not agree with his explanation of ‘why’ (there’s that troublesome word again) these events happen, I have observed similar events.

The cocks here don’t dust bath. I haven’t read on this forum this observation, although I have read it elsewhere. I don’t think it’s because they are too proud.

Lots of people will possibly be thinking that Shadrach is blind, ALL my cocks dust bath!
Do they? Have people seen a cock rolling around in the dirt and assumed the cock is dust bathing?
What the cocks here do is lie in slightly damp earth, the hens do it to. Slightly damp earth isn’t dust.
The hens here do both, dust and damp earth. Why?….(Ooops, it’s that ******* word again)
If I make a depression in the ground and fill it with wood ash the hens will use it but the cocks won’t.
If I make a similar depression in the ground and fill it with sieved compost and recently turned over soil both hens and cocks use it. It seems there are two types of ‘dust’ bathing.

His observation that the cock when given the opportunity prefers t mate with offspring that are of the same breed also matches my experience. There are posts on this forum that suggest the same but don’t dwell on the point. Does this mean chickens are racist? It depends on how you define racist and what connotations and value judgements you attach to it. If I wrote ‘the chickens here seem to prefer to cohabit with other chickens they have a genetic link to,’ I may not get the same reaction that I might if I just stated they are racist.

 

[centrarchid]

The cocks here don’t dust bath. I haven’t read on this forum this observation, although I have read it elsewhere. I don’t think it’s because they are too proud.

Lots of people will possibly be thinking that Shadrach is blind, ALL my cocks dust bath!
Do they? Have people seen a cock rolling around in the dirt and assumed the cock is dust bathing?
What the cocks here do is lie in slightly damp earth, the hens do it to. Slightly damp earth isn’t dust.
The hens here do both, dust and damp earth. Why?….(Ooops, it’s that ******* word again)
If I make a depression in the ground and fill it with wood ash the hens will use it but the cocks won’t.
If I make a similar depression in the ground and fill it with sieved compost and recently turned over soil both hens and cocks use it. It seems there are two types of ‘dust’ bathing.

.

I see cocks dust bath a lot, sometimes almost daily. They can be a harem master, satellite, or a floater and still do it.

 

[Shadrach]

I see cocks dust bath a lot, sometimes almost daily. They can be a harem master, satellite, or a floater and still do it.

What is a harem master Centrachid? It's not a term I am familiar with with respect to chickens. You are the only person I have come across that uses this term.
A satellite is a man made object in space
A floater, what is that?

 

[centrarchid]

Read the scientific literature pertaining to jungle fowl where you will find terms harem master and satellite. Those terms go together. Floater is a term used for individuals that are not anchored to a particular social group or location and will not be found in jungle fowl literature but can be found with songbirds. It can still apply with free-range poultry. Drop use of tribe unless you find its use with chickens in literature.

Until you step up and behave in a more professional manner, you will get no further responses from me.

 

[Shadrach]

Read the scientific literature pertaining to jungle fowl where you will find terms harem master and satellite. Those terms go together. Floater is a term used for individuals that are not anchored to a particular social group or location and will not be found in jungle fowl literature but can be found with songbirds. It can still apply with free-range poultry. Drop use of tribe unless you find its use with chickens in literature.

Until you step up and behave in a more professional manner, you will get no further responses from me.

The thing is Centrachid I have read some literature pertaining to jungle fowl and I don't recall the term harem master.
'It can still apply with free-range poultry.' You mean you apply it to poultry.
There is nothing wrong with the term Tribe. It describes better my observations of the chickens behaviour here than the term flock, group or harem.

 

[sumi]

I think we are done here now. Thanks for your participation.