First, two facts:
1. Harriet, my little red hen, is at the bottom of the pecking order.
2. I gather that standing up tall and flapping your wings is how you say “I am the boss,” if you are a chicken. (If you do this while Ethel is around, she will run over and peck you.)
On Saturday morning, I had shooed the other three chickens out of the coop and down into the run. Harriet was the last hold-out. I stepped back to let her settle down from the impending Broom Panic.
I watched as she looked around the coop carefully. She cocked her head this way and that, making triple-sure that she was the only chicken in the coop.
Then she stood up tall and flapped her wings.
That’s right, Harriet! When there are no other chickens around, you are the boss.
Speaking of the shooing. Infuratingly, they have always been happy to go UP the ramp. In fact I have to close the hatch during the day, or they’ll go up there, and get “stuck.”
I built them a floating platform, about 18 inches below the hatch. They drop onto that, and from there they can either flap down to the ground or hop over to the perch, then jump to the ground. I no longer have to physically pick them up and drop them through the hatch. But I do still have to shoo them out with the broom every morning.
As the sun begins to set, they huddle together on the floating platform. From there, they give me Significant Looks until I finally relent and open the hatch so that they can go back to the coop.
I love your chickens and seeing the personalities develop.
Hey have you seen the episode on Chickens, its cute & silly & crazy..and i loved it. Just be warned, a bit of a tear-jerker at the end.
http://www.shoppbs.org/pwr/product-reviews/Shop-by-Topic/PBS/p/1428832-The-Natural-History-of-the-Chicken-DVD.html
Huddling on the platform! That is so sweet. I love your chickens.
Floating platform? Like on the Romulan ship in Star Trek? SWEET.
I love significant looks! I get them from my chihuahua if I stay up past her definition of our bedtime.
I’ve always been fascinated watching the pecking order sort itself. You are only below someone if they whack you, and you let them. If you whack them back, you outrank them.
Unless they whack you back even harder, that is…
Maybe having a sort of alarm set up that rings right before you come at them with the broom? So they relate the sound to having to leave the coop. Maybe eventually, you’d be able to sound it out and they’ll move out?
LOVE your chickens
Hey! Just wanted to say I love the chicken updates and hope you keep posting them.
There is a backyard poultry meetup that seems to have a lot of answers. They are very friendly, too. I think they are nationwide as a meetup so do most of their meeting by message board.
Me and Harriet. We’re the boss, as long as we’re the onliest chickens.
Significant Looks. lol. Meanie.
So if you left them up there with no food or water after you opened the hatch, how long would they stay up there?
I learn something new each day