Category Archives: Poultry Behaviour

Observed behaviour of hens,cockerels and other poultry.

Individual Personality Traits






Chickens are very sociable, having friends and enemies, show self-awareness, can memorise over one hundred faces, can count and what’s more express emotions like grief, fear, anxiety, frustration, friendship and boredom. Don’t you just love the many personality traits of … Continue reading

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Easter Chicks






Our Japanese bantams have done it again! So anxious to be mothers, the Japanese bantams have hatched some chicks just in time for Easter. People talk about Silkies being the best broodies, we do keep Silkies and whilst they are … Continue reading

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Emotional Side Of Keeping Poultry






For many keepers of free range poultry it is a passionate hobby that gives immense pleasure and satisfaction. Watching your birds grow from chicks into fully grown adults is an amazing experience, no matter how many times you incubate eggs, … Continue reading

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Cockerel Aggression






We have never counted, but we must have upwards of 40+ cockerels which most of the time live in relative harmony. Yes, we do have fights. It’s how we manage them when they occur and also how we manage the … Continue reading

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Managing New Birds






New arrivals need to be managed carefully and with some thought. The best time to introduce new birds to an existing flock is bedtime, when it’s dark preferably. When all the birds in the coop wake up in the morning, … Continue reading

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Arboreal Hamburghs






This year (2013) we have bred more Silver Pencilled Hamburghs to add to our existing small flock. We now have just over 20 birds. These birds are often described in books as, standoffish, flighty, avoids human contact, etc. We’ve found … Continue reading

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Sights and Sounds






We have a small group of bantams close to the house and as we go around putting every one to bed, we often whistle close to their coop and receive in response a lovely reply. It’s only when we get … Continue reading

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Geese Aquarobics






Last December we lost one of our Embden geese ‘Biscuit’ to a tumour. We first noticed a very large lump under her right wing. We got the vet to call and see her, the diagnosis was not good, probably some … Continue reading

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Pump for Joy






As many of you hen keepers will know, each flock has one or two individuals who turn out to be real characters. I regularly use Poultry Shield to combat red mite. One morning I started to use the spray gun … Continue reading

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