Be Happy, Get Chickens!

This is my Cuckoo Maran rooster, settling down in a nest box and acting like a hen. Yes, a hen! He snuggles down, turns a circle or two, clucks quietly and settles..as if HE will be laying an egg. I have seen him do this many times and am always intrigued. Most of the time he is a proper rooster, strutting and courting the hens. He does rule the roost. Then, some days I find him behaving as if he has eggs to lay and tend, and he will knock the hens out of the nest boxes so he can set...go figure.

Here is my frizzled bantam cochin rooster. He has a few hens of his own and seems to be quite the gentleman.

He will choose a cedar shaving, pluck it up in his beak, and wiggle and bob as he dances around the hens. Then he passes the shaving to a hen, takes it back and does this to another hen. What is this? A dance? A rooster dance?What does it mean?

The hens are checking out a prospective nesting box. ( note: I use kitty litter boxes for my nesting bantams) Wonder what they are thinking.You know, my bantam hens are constantly stealing eggs from each other and they will even roll eggs out of big nest boxes and across a pen to set on and hatch as their own. They LOVE to be mama hens.

My chickens fascinate me. They come up with all sorts of antics and behavior I have never read about, but I know anyone who keeps chickens must be seeing many of the things I observe. There is so much more to animals' behavior and thought processes than we read and hear about. Anyone who keeps a dog, cat, bird , or any kind of pet they observe even a little bit knows this! "If you search the world for happiness, you may find it in the end, for the world is round and will lead you back to your door." Robert Brault We have chickens in the back area of our property, they are funny and when I need a break, a laugh ,or to just put things into perspective, I get a cup of coffee and sit on a bench near our chicken pens to just watch them. They make me happy. Really, everyone ahould have some chickens!