An Andalucian Blue hen
At Semilla Besada it has been fascinating watching the natural behaviour of the chickens. There is the social order, the language, and the differences between the sexes.
For instance, most of us are used to the phrase ‘pecking order’, which originated from observations made about the way in which chickens organise their community. Those with the most confidence become dominant in the flock, and they maintain their position by pecking any other chicken of lower status. The older chickens will dominate until younger ones gain in confidence and start to move up in status through challenging the dominance of the others. Sometimes a hen never seems to move off the ‘bottom rung’, as was the case with our first ever mother. Although she was the largest bird in the flock, she had a sedate personality, except when it came to protecting her young, and always seemed to be pecked into the lowest status. When a hen becomes ill, she will also lose her status and may never regain it, even if she recovers.
The cockerel is the most dominant member of the flock, and will use the action of mounting (mating) the hens, to enforce this dominance. He can protect about 10 hens effectively, and will be constantly rounding them up, and mounting them to re-establish their membership of his flock. A cockerel can mate up to 30 times a day, which has implications for flock size and management. If a cockerel mounts a hen too often, he can cause feather damage which results in the hen having bald patches on her back and sides.
Chicken language is also complex. The cockerel will have a range of sounds which mean anything from “I’ve found a tasty tidbit” to “Be on the alert”. He also uses a different sound when approaching a hen to mount (mate) her. The hens have a general language, and sometimes will develop their own signature which enables me to recognise the different hens.
However, when they rear their young, they make a regular, single note call to ensure that the chicks always know where they are. The chicks, similarly, are always ‘cheeping’ for the same reason. When the mother finds some tasty piece of food, she will make a excited, repetitive single note call and all the chicks will hurry to where she is.
As the chicks grow up, the conventional way to determine the sexes is by the size of the comb that develops on the ‘forehead’ of the bird. The larger the comb, the greater the likelihood it will be a cockerel. However, after about 10 weeks, the cockerels develop a ‘trilling’ call which is very appealing and quite song-like. It is only after they are 6 months old, that they begin to crow.
Of course, this behaviour relates to the Andalucian Blue chicken, and there maybe variations between the breeds. A useful book about the domestic behaviour of domestic animals is entitled simply that: The Behaviour of Domestic Animals by Baillière Tindall and Cox.
Aspen signing off from Semilla Besada, on a sunny winter day
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