Know What the Flock is About

I’ve been thinking about flocks recently. Well, let me rephrase that – I’m always thinking about flocks, but I’ve been thinking more about the dynamics of flocks as this winter has gone on. I watch my feathered crew mill about outside and the soft sounds they make as they explore their 15’ x 15’ run of which they have all but turned into a barren, dusty landscape (save for the recent snow which actually makes it look better); looking for that random worm or grub which has managed to sneak beyond the chicken wire barricade only to be devoured in a flash of beak. I love listening to one of the three roosters cluck excitedly when a treat is sprinkled around him or he finds a tasty spot of ground – calling his hens to the spot so he can stand back and appear to be the most giving gentleman. Of course, he always has an ulterior motive for bringing the hens close, but the very act of the rooster calling the ladies, and then stepping back from what you know is a delectable treat to allow the females to eat their fill is fascinating to me. A lot of human males could learn a lot from a bird brained rooster.

I watch the flock when I step into the coop at night to check the waterer level, collect eggs and make sure that they have enough food and there aren’t drafts in the coop. Each bird knows their place in the flock and seems to be completely groovy with it. Just like with any family, there are squabbles from time to time, but they are short lived and if the rooster has to step in to break up a chicken fight between two females, you can bet that the two females will cease their “hen pecking” pretty quickly. I’ve also noticed that there seems to be a “Higher Society” in my coop with the hens that roost on the upper wall in the coop. They like to be as close as possible to their “man”, Buddy, and sit like prim and proper little ladies – cooing and softly clucking as they move in close to one another to stay warm.

All of this coop cuddle time doesn’t mean, however, that all the males in the coop are as chivalrous as Buddy and sometimes the hens need a little extra protection to protect the feathers on their backs from the other two males. Knowing this, that’s when I decided on the chicken apron! I was a little worried at first about how the flock would receive a hen with one of these capes on her back, but the flock seems to accept this artsy bird without a second thought. I’m pretty stoked also to be able to tell one hen from the other just by the pattern on her back – maybe I’ll be tempted to leave them on beyond the feathers growing back -- then again, maybe not.

If you’ve been following my antics on Facebook, you know that I recently put 14 eggs from my adult birds into the incubator to hopefully grow some chickens. Once these chicks hatch and grow up, it’s always fun to watch the new flock be accepted into the current flock, even if it is just a tad bit painful to watch at first as the pecking order is established.  Then even once they’re accepted – birds that were raised together tend to continue to stick together even if they’re among a totally different group of birds. It’s just cool and neat how these seemingly brainless birds have the whole social thing all figured out. They know their flock and they know what the flock is about.