It may be hard to believe, but I find some of my quietest moments in the hen house.
If you asked me a dozen years ago if I’d find myself seeking solace in the chicken coop, my answer would have been a definite NO. Now, I spend a lot of time in the “hen house”. No one follows me there (except Cupcake, our pup). I go to check on the hens, make sure they all have food and water, and I also collect eggs.
I have discovered that spending time in the coop has enabled me to get to know our birds really well. There’s Mama Hen, who is our oldest hen and who has been with us the longest. She survived a blood bath in which all our other chickens and ducks were killed by a wild animal the other year. Mama Hen rules the roost.
Then there’s our big boy. We call him Big Red. He is gorgeous and he is the second in command next to Mama Hen. He is forceful and assertive. He is also a show off.
There are quite a few characters and they all co-exist nicely. Occasionally there is a bit of drama. Quite frankly, life in the hen house reminds me a lot of life in the human world. We somehow ended up with three young roosters among the lot. We will have to separate the hens and roosters soon. There’s this one little guy who has been attempting to mate with a few of the hens. The poor guy gets rejected and then the other two roosters gang up on him. It’s quite pitiful to see him running away.
From spending time among the birds, I now know where the sayings “hen house” and “pecking order” come from.
Hen house can mean a farm building or small shed for keeping poultry in, but it can also mean a place where the girls hang out. My husband uses phrases like “Oh, it’s a hen party!” A hen party is when a group of ladies get together, have fun and talk about everything — gossip included.
Pecking order is a hierarchy of status seen among members of a group of people or animals, originally as observed among hens. This is so apparent in the chicken coop. If you watch for a while, you’ll notice in our coop, Mama Hen is still top hen and is the boss. I’ve seen her pecking at others to remind them of where they are on the list!
It’s interesting to note the similarities in some of the behaviours birds and people share. The hen house is a small scale example of the human world. There’s rivalry, jealousy and rage. While I’ve seen birds attack a single target, I’ve also witnessed birds banding together and coming to the aid of others. I’ve seen hens protecting other hens. I’ve seen a rooster protecting the females. I’ve seen competition for food. I’ve seen cooperation and team work in trying to open up an apple and sharing it among other chickens.
I quite enjoy my quiet time among the birds. It’s my time to myself. My time to reflect and be a bit introspective.
Where do you go to find some quiet time? What do you do to have “downtime”?
This was a fun and enjoyable feature to read about hens.My grandmother had hens and I would go with her to collect the eggs and to see the chickens laying on their eggs.
Your post reminds me of being at my grandparents’ farm when I was a little girl. I spent lots of time with the chickens and playing in the chicken coop. I guess that was some of my quiet time too,
I love chickens. I have never lived where I could have them but if i moved out of town a hen house would be a part of my yard. Love them.
My quiet time is at the ocean front! I love this post and your description of your “hen house”. Thanks for sharing!
This is so neat! You know them all now! 🙂
You know Christine, I have 5 budgies, it’s pretty much the same. Animals, LIKE PEOPLE, if you spend enough time around them, observing, communicating, interacting, you will find they are all as individualistic as people are. They have their quirks and possess the same traits as humans do.
Animals are very fascinating to watch.
I would love to have a hen house like yours! I can see why it would be a place for you to “escape” a bit. My brother has one…
It’s so funny, Rhonda! I enjoy being among the birds! They can get a little stinky at times though! LOL!
This is such a great post, Christine. There is a lot to be learned from observing species in the animal world. So true how there is a lot we can relate to. Thank you for this refreshing post.
Janie
Thanks so much, Janie. I appreciate your comments 🙂