The politics of a henhouse

I like chickens. They're fun to look at. They're pretty. They produce eggs. And, they're surprisingly human. On the surface chickens seem pretty simple. Wake up. Go outside, maybe peck at some bugs, poop, take a dust bath, do some more pecking, lay an egg and call it a day. What I've found, observing my family's chickens, is that its not that simple.

Each chicken has its own personality. The rooster is in charge of the house. He's the first one out of the house in the morning and the last one in. He always has what's best for the hen's in mind. Whenever I dump scraps over the fence instead of hogging them, Lars calls the ladies and shows them where the food is. The rooster always has to know where all the hens are all the time. Before going in the hen house at the end of the day the rooster always does a sweep of the yard. One time a hen was taking her sweet time going into the house. Sultan and Napoleon, our two roosters at the time, kept on glancing in the house, counting the hens, and looking back out. Finally after a conference between the two Napoleon was sent on reconnaissance mission. Racing around the yard he found the hen and sent her to bed.

The hens are VERY clicky and moody. I'm not sure if this is because they're women or if its a chicken thing. A hen's life revolves around laying eggs. If a egg is coming, its going to happen whether you like it or not. With limited laying beds in the chicken house things can get intense. One time Dani was on the prime nest. She had just laid an egg and was resting. Gloria, queen bee, comes in and stomps over to Dani. Gloria hops up into the nest and glowers over Dani for some time. It looked awkward. Finally Dani relinquished control of the nest.

The worst group if chickens are the teenagers. They are exactly like human teenagers. They look awkward. They act awkwardly. They hang out together. They're getting feathers where they didn't have any. They're voices are changing and they're annoying. These chickens don't really care what you think. Hanging out in the chicken house and pooping is all they really care about. As a result the wood chips need to be changed more often and sicknesses can spring up. Half the battle of cleaning a hen house is getting the rebels out into the fresh air and sunshine.

I love these crazy birds. God made them each with a personality. The God that created the milky way, gravity, and DNA also created each and every chicken. That makes me smile.