Basic Chicken Behavior

A chicken’s day starts when the coop door opens at a little after sunrise. If you feed them as soon as they are out, they will grow accustomed to that feeding time and will rush the feeder for a bite. It’s at this time that the roosters find that they are in the mood for love and they will mate with anything that moves and some things that don’t.

The smart hens move as far from the amorous roosters as they can and begin the daily search for bugs, grass, worms and table scraps.

The day must include a brisk dirt bath. The rooster or hen will lay down in the dirt and fling dirt over its back. Then he or she will roll over. This helps keep the bird content and is important to reducing a chicken’s stress levels. It’s also a great deal of fun to watch.

The flock forms a ‘family’ of sorts. When a broody mother leaves the nest for water, another hen will take over for her. When a predator is nearby, the guardian rooster lets out a tell tale cry and they all wing it for higher ground or come in closer to each other.

While a rooster is certainly no match for a fox or raccoon, both predators know enough to try to eat the bird without the long pointy spur on her leg.

While their behavior is determined a great deal by the bird’s natural temperament, roosters are essentially driven to protect their flock. If you are free ranging the birds, you may notice that some of the hens gravitate toward one rooster, while others to another.

They have the flock that they protect and they move to separate areas of the yard. The only conflicts take place when one rooster wanders into another’s territory.

At night, the roosters again get in the mood for love, but the smart hens are already perched on the pole. And that’s when we noticed an odd behavior. Circumstances forced us to house five roosters in one coop.

These roosters had grown up from the same batch of eggs we incubated. And they would have their fights during the day, but when it was time to get inside, we observed what we came to call ‘the coop truce’. The sun was going down and the time for fighting was over. They would peacefully get into the coop and perch where they wanted.

Rooster and hen.

Why You May Want  A Rooster

A rooster is more than just a way to propagate your flock and yes they are loud, but a rooster is also a guardian of sorts over the hens in his flock. When a predator is near, they have a special crow of warning that goes out. His hens bolt for the nearest safe place and huddle together.

After a while, you will learn to tell what the crow sounds like. A rooster keeps his hens safe or at least as safe as he can. One rooster per ten hens is a good ratio.