dalthauser | Delawares at Sundown (5 minutes)

hahaha- that was cute.

I could tell that Roo was chaperoning the in,and he even came back out to try to get Fanny to go in. Maybe she will figure it out soon. She wanted to get in, but didn't seem to know how! Or she doesn't like going up that way. Maybe she's heavier than the others, and finds it harder to jump up.

I could hear Roo helping settle disputes inside, too :)

Thanks for posting that. It was very interesting to watch chook behaviour!

Besides, they're beautiful :)

I was thinking how complex their behaviors are. The rooster has a certain role and the ladies have a certain role. You can see the benefits of being a group - a loner would not survive. Cool stuff, thanks for sharing them.

The evening ritual is always interesting... Whenever I try to speed the process, it results in a delay since they get side-tracked by me standing there watching and urging.. hahahaha they definitely have their own timing on that one.. and there is always the one that is LAST to go in... they are SO funny!

Haha - yeah, I know. I really wanted them to do it for the camera though. Usually I'll leave them to it until it's actually dark - then I'll usually go in and scoop Fanny up and put her inside. Her best friend (the one who kept going back out to check on her) is sometimes huddled with her.

That is SO sweet.. I haven't ever noticed best friends like that... I have noticed the two ladies at the top of the pecking order seem to hang out together mostly to make sure the other doesn't get a tasty morsel the other one misses.... I can't wait to photo document the babies going out for the first time! I HOPE it's today!

My flock hasn't established a pecking order that I can tell. They don't spar or challenge each other. Even Roo doesn't demonstrate dominant behavior. They all seem to help each other as far as alerting the flock to predators. I hope my treating them pets practically hasn't hurt their ability to function socially as a flock.

Oh, I really doubt it... We always handled our chicks and had them on our laps and everything but they start to turn in to actual chickens at a certain point... T Rex brains and all! But I always did love those dinosaurs :)

The hardest part is once they are a flock and you try to introduce new ones (we have all years but one) It's hard to see the new ones get picked on at first until it all settles in. They can be pretty brutal to the ones that are different... therefore I've finally given up on unusual breeds like the Polish or Cochins as they are SO different, are singled out and bear the brunt.

I can't get over how big they got.

I find it interesting that Fanny knows how to go in when you go in their area. I wonder if she is playing you for attention or she does not like going inside.

How's those nesting boxes coming? Has anyone laid an egg yet?

I've installed one. It's a plastic stacking bin that I cut a window in the back and butted it up to the coop wall and made an opening to it from the outside, but I have to make the door to the opening still. I'll see if they use it - then if so, I'll do another. I also am going to line the hose keeper I gutted with straw. No eggs yet - I look around inside the compoud every day now.

Yeah, I'm not sure about her. She isn't the friendliest of the flock, so I'm not sure if she wants my attention. She's the one that was picked on as a chick that I had to separate twice. If I hadn't intervened the others would have killed her eventually.

You can't blame her for not being too friendly after going through that as a chick. I wonder why the others did that.

Are you going to put fake eggs in their "egg nests" to give them the hint? My neighbor use to do that with hers.

I don't think they intend to be mean-spirited. They pick kind of as a past-time and out of curiosity and it doesn't amount to much unless it draws blood - then it's red (and maybe smells) then that is attractive. From there you can't leave the chick with the others. You have to take them out and heal them up before putting them back. Problem is if it takes too long to heal - then they get left behind socially. That's why I put another chick in with her when she was in solitary :-)

I'll put eggs in the nest if they need help figuring out where to lay. I have som easter eggs I am going to fill with sand. Hopefully they will figure it out for themselves.

OK.. so you've definitely seen that effect of one being singled out.. they can be very brutal of one is a bit slower, different, weaker or who knows what else....

Delawares at Sundown (5 minutes)

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