Hormones

It’s been strange and interesting to raise chickens. Also very sad when we lose some to unknown illnesses.

Chickens in one year go from little chicks dependent upon warmth, food, water, and mothering; to reckless teenagers, playing and interacting with each other; to adult hens and roosters that find their pecking order and get down to laying eggs and breeding.

We have watched them emerge as unique and friendly personalities, that then get dominated by others with agendas.

When we have separated the roosters from the hens, the boys can actually get along for the most part just fine together.

Similarly with hens, although we have had to separate them into groups that trend more in alike behaviors and characteristics.

Once chickens are mature, they will stick to their internal dictates, so it is important they are matched compatibly for productivity and happiness.