Eager is Happy

Now that the rooster is out of the hen house, Eager is out of the nest box. This is so much healthier for her, mentally and physically.

If you remember, Road Runner (the rooster) was beating Eager up. Her response was to retreat to the nest box. He wasn’t always this way with her. She went broody a few months ago and tried to hatch some eggs. When she was done with that, and came back into rotation, he treated her like a pariah and the other hens followed his lead. When she came around the three of them he would chase her and then didn’t just jump her in a roosterly-duty sort of way, he would flog her. So, she went where she knew he wouldn’t follow – the nest box.

The other two hens (Pecky and Caboose) were over-used and seemed to have developed an abuse victim kind of relationship with him. “If we are very nice, and don’t upset him, maybe he won’t hurt us so bad.” To some extent, this seemed to work for them. When they were free-ranging, he would find tasty treats and call them over to share with them. (If Eager came over he would chase her off).

Anyway, the point of the story is: Eager is happy. She is out of the nest box and interacting with the other hens and the chicks. Pecky and Caboose will take awhile to grow their feathers back but they appear to be more calm and content as well.

Who would have thought I’d be involved with supporting the mental health of a chicken?

Eager has always been the friendliest of the hens.