- May 21, 2017
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Sorry for responding so late.There are certain behaviours in all species that fall under the general category of facts. There are others that are still open to opinion.
It is unfortunate imo that currently we seem to live in a climate where any expertise and science in general, are dismissed and the subjective view that all opinions are equally valid prevails.
It is for example a fact that a rooster pecking at the ground and nodding his head and making what has been identified as an I've found food call, is in fact a call to tell hens that he has found food. Yes they do lie, but that doesn't mean that particular combination of movement and sound isn't correctly described as an I've found food call. It's a fact until reliably proven otherwise.
In your post you have essentially undermined your own argument. If the herding shuffle was in fact a precursor to aggressive action then it would be reasonable to expect the other roosters and hens you mention to then be the subject of such an attack. You don't mention this so it's safe to assume that has not been the case.
The roosters here, particularly those in family groups do the herding shuffle to each other; they don't fight afterwards. The roosters here do the herding shuffle to the hens, they don't fight afterwards. Some of the roosters here do the herding shuffle to me, most noticeably iin the mornings when I open their coops. I have never been attacked after such a movement. The younger roosters do it to me because they see me as part of their tribe. It is (this is opinion) there way of saying good morning, you are one of the tribe.
I have dealt with problems associated with the herding shuffle in other flocks whose keepers have believed this was an indication of aggressive intent. What often fails to get mentioned is the keepers immediate response to receiving the herding shuffle and it is the keepers response that may in some circumstances elicit aggression.
There is a person in the local village who has recently had to become a chicken keeper.
Their partner unfortunately died and they were left with a semi feral chicken population to care for and not much information on how best to go about the job. This person did get attacked by a cockerel apparently after the cockerel had done the herding shuffle.
I went to help and was there when they opened up in the morning. This cockerel, much like some here bounded out of the coop and immediately did the herding shuffle to the inexperienced keeper. The keeper panicked and shoved the cockerel out of the way with their foot. The cockerel tried the shuffle again and the person kicked the cockerel; not hard but it was enough to goad the cockerel into an attack.
Three days of training the person and the cockerel comes out and does the herding shuffle, the keeper stands still and talks to the cockerel. The cockerel does a further shuffle and does that neck strain try to look you in the eye movement and then goes about it's business.
To make this quite clear, the herding shuffle is not a precursor to aggressive behavior; it's a fact.
I would like to continue this discussion about the wing shuffle.
I've observed hens and roosters use the wing shuffle right before attacking each other or asserting dominance. Cockerels looking to test my boundaries often wing shuffle, then, if I nudge them with a foot or reach out to them, they'll puff up their hackles at me. If I walked away or ignored them they probably wouldn't do this, but it's still an aggressive response. Doesn't necessarily make them aggressive, but it still shows that the wing shuffle can potentially warn you to be more careful around your rooster(s) so that they don't feel the need to attack you. In your example the cockerel did attack, even if it might've been because of the human's actions. However, it doesn't seem they were going to attack unless provoked. So, you're right: the wing shuffle doesn't automatically mean aggression. Maybe it never does. However, imo, cockerels who do the wing shuffle to people are more likely to challenge them. They may not grow up to be aggressive, but it's still a behavior to watch out for. In grown aggressive roos, the wing shuffle may be the way he warns you he's about to attack.
As I said in my first post, a lot of the time the wing shuffle is not a challenging action. The roos in my bachelor pad did it to each other a lot without the intent to attack. Sometimes when one would do it the other roo would run away or duck his head. Sometimes the other roo would puff himself up and even challenge the one who did the shuffle. With a mixed flock of roos and hens (and pullets and cockerels) my roos would often do it before mating a hen or just do it to greet a hen. Sometimes the hen would scoot away, like she was saying she wasn't interested in being mounted. I've had a lot of roosters that do the wing shuffle in a completely friendly way to me, maybe to get my attention (one of them loved his chest scratched) or, as you said, a greeting.
What I'm trying to say is that, in different circumstances, the wing shuffle can mean different things. Maybe sometimes it's used as a test; a roo testing a human caretaker or another roo, a roo testing whether a hen is ready to mate. And sometimes it seems to be used as a friendly greeting.
Here are a few photos of events that make me think the wing shuffle can be a challenging display.
Chester, doing the wing shuffle to a cockerel in another pen after being let out to free range. I've observed my roos do this many times, then, after getting an aggressive response, they start fence fighting. Maybe the wing shuffle is more about what kind of response it gets rather than it being an automatic challenge.
Popcorn, top hen in my small bantam flock. This picture is after she was reintroduced to the flock and was reminding the hen below her (Olive) that she was still top hen. Popcorn dipped her wing, got very close to Olive, then pecked Olive on the head.
Chester a few moments before I picked him up. I think he was looking to me, perhaps curious about the phone.
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