A PECK, PECK HERE AND A PECK, PECK THERE

The “baby” chicks (now a little over 16 weeks old) have been in the big coop since the beginning of May, while the older hens have been in the chicken tractor. Now it’s time to start introducing the older hens back into the coop and run.

Mixing flocks can be tricky. There is a hierarchy in the flock and whenever you mess with it by adding newcomers, things can get very dramatic in the hen house! I’m expecting to be home all this week, so it’s a good time to start the process since I’ll be around to make sure things don’t get too hairy.

Sunday night, after everyone was asleep, we moved the first hen, Loki, from the chicken tractor to the coop. The theory that is espoused by chicken “experts” is that chickens are “unaware” in the dark and when the dawn comes, they will wake up and think that everything is normal, and those strange chickens were always around. Yeah, look at humans try to speak for chickens, smh.

Loki is on the lower end of the flock hierarchy among the big hens and is normally pretty chill, so she was the chosen one. Also, when Oscar went to collect a hen, she fell out of the chicken tractor coop. Clumsy sometimes moves you to the top of the list.

As expected, Loki has been doing a lot of pecking and chasing of the chicks. There’s lots of running around in the run and more than a few squawks throughout the day. It’s all part of the process though and, as long as there are no injuries, we will just let it play out. You would think the chicks would realize they outnumber her and could “take” her anytime, but no. Apparently, it’s all in how you present yourself – confident or scared – that wins out, even for chickens.

So, in the meantime, it’s “a peck-peck here, and a peck-peck there, here a peck, there a peck, everywhere a peck-peck.”