>>intend to raise my next flock of dual purpose birds from chicks in the
hope that the pecking order will established early and the birds will have
time to grow together >>in harmony. Maybe then I'll be able to think of
chickens as "pets" once more.
their harmony and your idea of harmony may not be the same. From my
experience there will always be some "underhens" who get pecked at, kept
away from the food, jumped and humped on, that's just how the pecking order
works. I always find it fascinating how they constantly pay attention to
impress the order on each other, no matter how much food is being
scattered, they will go out of their way to tell each other who gets to
peck at whom. There is no point to be disillusioned about it, chickens will
be chickens. It's better to work out a system that enables each of them to
get enough food and be able to have a place to have some quiet and be
undisturbed by providing perches, protected corners, multiple feed stations
etc. so even the underhens can have a save and productive life within their
flock.
Marlene, Nevada, USA
www.Anatolians-of-Zaltana.com
Blog: http://zaltanaanatolians.blogspot.com/ and
http://zaltanachickens.blogspot.com/
CHICKENS-101@yahoogroups.com
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