sibling rivalry...

Well...for some reason Chupa and Manny suddenly decided to fight a lot.  Normally, they get along pretty well and will spar occasionally but yesterday it was relentless.  Apparently they had been going at it for while in the morning before I let them out of the pen.  Both of them were a little bloody.  Throughout the day they went at it a couple more times until Manny hid in the Airstream.  Last night when I was ready to put them back in the pen, I thought Chupa had killed Manny.  He was lying frozen on his back.  I put Chupa in the pen and decided to wait a little while to try to figure out what was going on...Manny didn't appear to have any visible injuries and his eyes were open.

About a half hour later (after doing some digging online) I went out to check him and he was not moving but his eyes were still open.  I turned him back over on his feet and he hopped right up as if nothing had happened.  Seems a fight had induced a state of "tonic immobility" ...a natural state of semi-paralysis that some animals enter when presented with a threat - a defensive mechanism intended to feign death.  It can be induced by humans in various ways and is known as chicken hypnosis - a barnyard parlor thick of sorts.

It was getting dark by this time so I took a chance and put Manny in the pen with Chupa.  They both went calmly into the coop.  This morning I came to let them out and Manny was immobilized on his back again, so I righted him but kept him in the pen for the day.  I let Chupa out but he spent the whole day right next to the pen.  Decided it might be a good idea to provide separate sleeping quarters so I slapped together a makeshift second coop to keep them apart overnight to avoid any early morning conflicts.  For the next week or so they will take turns during the day - one in the pen while the other gets to run around.  The question is...do I try to get video of Chupa "hypnotizing" Manny?  77,84,64,0,B

thief in the night

Frank entered the food chain a couple of nights ago.  I think a coyote snatched him off my porch.  All that was left was a small pile of feathers by the greenhouse.  I heard a brief commotion at 4:30 in the morning but by the time I got outside there was nothing to see or hear.  The really weird part about it all is the dream I had after I went back to sleep.  I dreamt that Chupa had his leg torn off by something and it was still hopping around next to him.  In my dream I told people. "Look - there's Chupa, and there's Chupa's leg."  It was hopping around right next to him, pecking at the ground.  That was probably deep down in my brain because of this story.  RIP Frank...you were a good egg.  86,90,60,0,C

pecking order

For some reason, Chupa and Manny have started terrorizing Frank when they are in the coop together.  They beat him up pretty good a couple of days ago so now Frank roosts on my front porch at night.  When I let the other two out in the morning they chase him around a bit but spend the rest of the day being friends.  I tried them all in the coop together after a few nights of the new routine and they went right after him again.  Everyone is much more content now that Frank his own bedroom.  87,98,67,0,B

three amigos

70,88,46,0,B

off duty...

54,62,49,0,C

Field Lab Security

87,95,65,0,C

rulers of the roost...

Chupa and John

Frank and Manny

93,100,74,0,B

free range roosters

Woke up this morning to the sound of my roosters in front of the hut.  Seems the boys broke out of their coop and decided to try out free ranging for the first time in their lives.  Since they were so well behaved (they didn't attack me when I led them back to their coop), I will start letting them out to experience the world on a daily basis.  81,93,63,0,B