Chickens tend to be thought of as not very bright. Now that I’m three years into chicken tending, I can tell you I’ve found that not to be true. No dumb clucks in this flock. If they’re let out to free range during the day, they don’t stray too far from the coop, always returning to lay their eggs and roost as the light changes to early evening. If they hear my flip flops on the gravel they come running… knowing this person always has treats for them. When they hear a hawk screech in the sky, they instinctively duck for cover.
There is a reason for all the cliches associated with chickens… it comes straight from chicken behaviors…
Pecking Order…. there is one in every flock. The boss hen (if there is no rooster) lets everyone know their place.
Being Hen Pecked… that’s the chickens who are lower on the flock seniority list.
Coming home to roost … well that’s what they do.
I have the answer to Why did the chicken cross the road, by the way….. to get away from the hawk on this side of the road who just decapitated one of it’s flock mates. good reason!
Chicken Out – Chickens are definitely cautious.
Run around like a chicken without a head. – I have no personal experience with this, thankfully!…
She’s no spring chicken. – Older chickens don’t lay eggs. They stop being egg-productive at about three to four years of age.
Chickens do have their own personalities, this is something that amazed me when I began my chicken raising journey. My own flock of eleven are a very diverse group. I have three of my original seven, who are now aging and not laying as frequently as they once did. There are the four that I had shipped from out west… poor things, won’t do that again. And then there are the four that I adopted when I brought my nasty hen – the one who thought she was a rooster and routinely plucked the feathers off my other chickens – to the lovely young woman at the Cluttered Coop. She provides a home for wayward chickens and roosters. Ever since that nasty hen left, my hens have flourished.
Henrietta is a small Cochin, sweet disposition
Snow is a large Cochin, a little more reserved but definitely curious.
Cochins have feathered feet!
Dorothy is a Black Australorp..
Regal in stature and one of my originals.
The flock tends to follow her around the yard, although she is not bossy.
I’m not sure exactly what Sophias breed of chicken is,
although I think she is a bantam by her small size. She came from the Cluttered Coop.
Notice the feathered feet, perhaps she is also a Cochin.
Below are Autumn, an Auracana (blue eggs!)
And Andie.. my Blue Andalusian..
and Red, my New Hampshire Red.
There are two barred rocks… Salt and Pepper
Rose is at the bottom left, another of my originals, an Auracana as well.
Raven is the black auracana in the background.
I’ve placed new sand in the coop yard.. this needs to be done periodically,
as well as a good raking out every day to keep the environment clean for the girls.
AND… some of you may remember the project my guys put together for me
this summer…
The Chicken Shack!
It’s done and in place.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…
if you’ve ever considered having chickens in your own back yard,
I recommend it highly.
They are a delight to care for and the eggs are divine.
And there’s a reason why people refer to inexpensive things as Chicken feed.
It’s cheap!
