Having been living rurally for over 18 months, and having acquired hens early on, I thought I might share some observations regarding chickens and the way they live.
We bought one rooster and 5 hens and they quickly settled in to their new quarters. We free range them so they are only locked in the hen-house after dark and are free to roam the property during the day.
First thing we were amazed about was the rooster and the way he conducts himself. He is the guardian of the hens. He find food and does the food call and stands back while the hens eat. He does this consistently through the day. When the kitchen scraps are brought out, he almost goes apoplectic, doing the food call and making sure his girls get plenty to eat. He stands guard against predators. There is a special call for when he spots a hawk - two call actually. On the first, the hens all freeze, if it is the second they all race for cover.
He also appears quite intelligent. Once one hen had chicks, he started taking the other hens into the cage we hace set up for broody hens, and showing them the nest, sitting in it and cooing - almost like he is encouraging them to get broody. We have also seen him take a hen, who was laying outside, inside the coop and show her the nest boxes. Sure enough she began to lay inside.
Often when a hen lays, she comes out of the coop and stand there squawking, saying I've laid an egg and now I can't find anybody. Where are you all? The rooster will race from where ever he is to the coop and escort her to the flock. Quite amazing really.
There is a price for all this selfless activity however, and that is for him to mate any hen anywhere anytime, and often somewhat brutally. But even that is all about the eggs being fertile, so it is also a useful function.
The hens themselves all have different personalities. They are all food focused but some are friendly and some are distant. Some are vicious in their pursuit of food and some are quite ladylike in their eating. I was surprised to see them eating mice, baby sparrows that fell out of nests during a storm, and all manner of bugs, beetles, slugs and snails. We were surprised one day to hear somebody tapping on on of the windows. Seems a fly was inside on the glass and the hen could see it but could not understand why they could not eat it.
There is also constant communication going on. Rooster and hens constantly clucking, squawking, muttering, cooing. We also see where so many sayings come from - feathering ones nest, don't count your chickens till they hatch, calling somebody a chicken, playing chicken (those hens will dart in front of the ride-on mower to grab a juicy morsal that absolutely can not wait until the mower has passed. I'm not sure why some of them have not died under the mower to be frank) and many others.
We have two types of hens now - 5 Shavers,which have been bred to lay, which do not get broody and are lean mean laying machines; and 4 Orpingtons, which are big lumbering birds with an abundance of feather plumage which gets quite dirty, lay somewhat sporadically, are renown for their broodiness at the drop of a hat and make a much better eating bird. So the shavers keep us in regular eggs and the opringtons provide the increase in the flock.
Pecking order is the last thing I wanted to comment on. It surprised me to see how a hen which has been the bottom hen reacts when it is no longer there, due to new birds arriving or new chicks growing up. I always thought these might show a bit of compassion due to their own experiences (that's what comes from ascribing human virtues to animals), but not a bit of it. They will be just as vicious to the lower birds as the others were to them.
All in all, an interesting microcosm to observe.
We bought one rooster and 5 hens and they quickly settled in to their new quarters. We free range them so they are only locked in the hen-house after dark and are free to roam the property during the day.
First thing we were amazed about was the rooster and the way he conducts himself. He is the guardian of the hens. He find food and does the food call and stands back while the hens eat. He does this consistently through the day. When the kitchen scraps are brought out, he almost goes apoplectic, doing the food call and making sure his girls get plenty to eat. He stands guard against predators. There is a special call for when he spots a hawk - two call actually. On the first, the hens all freeze, if it is the second they all race for cover.
He also appears quite intelligent. Once one hen had chicks, he started taking the other hens into the cage we hace set up for broody hens, and showing them the nest, sitting in it and cooing - almost like he is encouraging them to get broody. We have also seen him take a hen, who was laying outside, inside the coop and show her the nest boxes. Sure enough she began to lay inside.
Often when a hen lays, she comes out of the coop and stand there squawking, saying I've laid an egg and now I can't find anybody. Where are you all? The rooster will race from where ever he is to the coop and escort her to the flock. Quite amazing really.
There is a price for all this selfless activity however, and that is for him to mate any hen anywhere anytime, and often somewhat brutally. But even that is all about the eggs being fertile, so it is also a useful function.
The hens themselves all have different personalities. They are all food focused but some are friendly and some are distant. Some are vicious in their pursuit of food and some are quite ladylike in their eating. I was surprised to see them eating mice, baby sparrows that fell out of nests during a storm, and all manner of bugs, beetles, slugs and snails. We were surprised one day to hear somebody tapping on on of the windows. Seems a fly was inside on the glass and the hen could see it but could not understand why they could not eat it.
There is also constant communication going on. Rooster and hens constantly clucking, squawking, muttering, cooing. We also see where so many sayings come from - feathering ones nest, don't count your chickens till they hatch, calling somebody a chicken, playing chicken (those hens will dart in front of the ride-on mower to grab a juicy morsal that absolutely can not wait until the mower has passed. I'm not sure why some of them have not died under the mower to be frank) and many others.
We have two types of hens now - 5 Shavers,which have been bred to lay, which do not get broody and are lean mean laying machines; and 4 Orpingtons, which are big lumbering birds with an abundance of feather plumage which gets quite dirty, lay somewhat sporadically, are renown for their broodiness at the drop of a hat and make a much better eating bird. So the shavers keep us in regular eggs and the opringtons provide the increase in the flock.
Pecking order is the last thing I wanted to comment on. It surprised me to see how a hen which has been the bottom hen reacts when it is no longer there, due to new birds arriving or new chicks growing up. I always thought these might show a bit of compassion due to their own experiences (that's what comes from ascribing human virtues to animals), but not a bit of it. They will be just as vicious to the lower birds as the others were to them.
All in all, an interesting microcosm to observe.
