(1) Pecking order
So chickens really DO establish a pecking order! Recently, I noticed little Ruby giving poor Greedy a really hard time! Yes, my sweet little Ruby! My little Greedy bird will be scratching away at her little piece of real estate, trying to find some uneaten bit of grain, minding her own.
Then Ruby will come chasing after my little Greedy bird! And if Greedy doesn't run away in self defense, Ruby will peck at Gre
edy! Yes, it's true! You want to tell Greedy, "Listen, you're bigger than Ruby! Defend yourself!" But we all have siblings who were littler than us beating us up, or have seen little dogs take control of a household! (I don't mind sharing with you - one of my most memorable childhood memories is my little sister punching me in the car, and leaving finger nail scars on my arm because she didn't want to share some cheetos with me! And she's much littler than me - still is! So apparently, Katie the chicken wouldn't let Amy the chicken peck in peace either!)
Ruby and Greedy's behavior is known as establishing a pecking order! Feel free to impress upon yourself that this is REAL phenomenon by looking for "pecking order" in wikepedia!
(2) Coming home to roost
This little birds have a really strong instinct to come home and roost! Once the sun goes down, then hens flap into their house and apparently, just naturally fall into sleepy mode! Even hearing their favorite scratch (Chicken Crack!) get thrown onto the ground doesn't arouse them out of their sleepy stupor! This is probably the only time you can pet these little birds without them running away!
The little chicks, as they are still under the constant attention of the heat lamp, have not had this chance to fall into a sleepy stupor yet. So, in celebration of their constant lit environment, here are some really cute pictures of them! (You might notice that there are jail bars in one picture - this is because they're kept under an oven rack to prevent them from flying themselves ou
t of their crate! So now they're in, haha, chicken jail!)
Amy, you've lost your mind over chickens!! Which one is named Burning Chrome? And check out my photo id - guess what favorite animal it is??? That's right - our favorite siren of the sea, the dugong. Peru has manatees, btw, so I'm sure that's off your list of places to visit. It also has precious guinea pigs, which I did not eat. Here's some knowledge for you: Guinea pigs apparently live under beds or under houses when they are being raised for food (At least that's what I could understand in broken espanol). Your chickens are living in palaces comparatively.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'm procrastinating, and I'll see you soon enough to tell you more about animals of the world!