I have 2 white silkie hens that we collectively call bebop. We got them both at 2 days old (the same day). They both look exactly alike and are absolutely inseparable, we free have free ranged them since 6 months of age and even now at 1 year old they are always together. They both went broody in the same box the same day, hatched 6 chicks between the 2 of them, raised them together, and started laying again 4 months later on the same day. They amaze me, they are like one solid unit and if one is somehow (very rarely) separated from the other they both lose their minds until reunited. I've learned so much about these birds in the past year and it's still just as amazing as day one.
Thank you for sharing your great Silkie observations! The bonds between birds are incredible, I never get blasé about their comportment. There are so many different behaviours and expressions of emotion I have witnessed over the years I have been lucky enough to keep them. I did do a whole film and a written article on co-parenting, if you are interested: holistic-hen.blogspot.com/2018/09/co-parenting-in-poultry-mother-other.html#.W6VWi9KYOkA although that is only part of your story. My belief is though, with ancient breeds, such as the Silkie it is often the case that with the right environment they can re-discover some or all of their Jungle fowl roots, one of which is the ability to forge small tight knit communities and bonds, which don't just seem to be about survival but also about true friendships. I have spent years observing our poultry and still literally am only just scratching the surface. The dynamics of bird behaviour within a flock can be so fluid and complex that I don't think we humans will ever understand it but it's great fun trying to comprehend it. Your Silkies sound adorable, long may they prosper, give them a big hug from me and all the very best from Normandie, Sue xx
@@Pavlovafowl I'll definitely check out the film and article! My silkies have amazed me with their bond, they are sisters and they are best friends, we have a flock of 50 (only 2 silkie hens and 1 roo) and none of the other chickens have shown any emotional attachments or friendships as these 2 have, it's really made me reconsider the emotional range of the birds for sure. It brings me great joy watching them look after one another and even bed down together at night. They both went broody on me again yesterday, lol, at least I know they'll work as a team to raise their babies this time as they did the last ❤ thank you for your insight into chickens, I think anyone who spends anytime with their flock can easily figure out that we as humans have kept chickens for so long not just because of their "livestock" qualities but because they are so fascinating to watch and learn from!
O this is so lovely! I just found your channel through Mark Valencia from Self Sufficient Me, and I just came to the right place! Of course I did dive right into the chicken behaviour playlist: we had 2 little chicks saved from a hatch experiment in a school, and they are about 6 weeks old now. We have to learn EVERYTHING, and preferably right now, better: yesterday. So I am going to binge watch your channel, and learn everything I need to know about caring for and understanding chickens! Thank you for sharing your knowledge :D
Hi there and thank you for such lovely comments, they are appreciated! It will be very interesting to see how your chicks progress, as without a mother they will imprint on and bond to you, so you become the head of their mini 'flock'. However, they will also have inherent behaviours and your providing them with a sympathetic environment will bring these out in them. Good on you for saving them from the hatching experiment, it will be a great adventure. I do have written articles on chicken behaviours too, which you might find interesting, they include more detail than obviously a short film can show. This is the contents 'tab' for the page on behaviour and speech: holistic-hen.blogspot.com/p/behaviour.html#.XUe7Yiwv6V4 There are more articles and films on this subject to come - I just need to get time to edit and write them up! I started with two hens, they were a part-payment for looking after our neighbours' flock whilst the former were away on holiday - I now have a lot more than two and I'm guessing you will too! Thank you so much for binge watching my channel! Really good luck and keep me posted. All the very best from sunny Normandie, Sue
Yep, exactly that. Someone referenced to you, and Mark provided your name, and you commented :D I am also curious to see how our chicks grow up. We learned them to not be afraid of touching, we learned them where the water is by dipping their beaks in it, and where food is, by tapping on it. A little like motherhens would do. And today I found them roosting on a stick we added to their little pen. We want to build a big pen, including a tree, so I guess they will fly in one day! :D Thank you for the link! I will study it ;) -with love from The Netherlands-
I am so jealous of people that live where there is not an over abundance of predators as there is where I currently live. I once lived where they were safe. Now, I don't dare have a lot of chickens out free even in a fenced area unless I am physically out there too. My coops have to be super protective against everything from snakes to whatever. Love your videos of them.
Hi there and thank you for your comments re my videos, much appreciated. I did used to get a lot of problems with even the few predators we have, mainly birds of prey, martens and rats but I found as the forest garden grew out of the abandoned field it once was, things changed. Not only because the vegetation blocked the easy flight paths in particular the clear entry and exit for the birds of prey but also by the very nature of forest living, which seemed to make my birds more cohesive and united as a group. They developed an almost Jungle Fowl structure - splitting the once single flock into smaller flocks, and within that forming pairs and tight friendships. They also began living much more within the lower and higher canopy where they could be both off the ground and high enough to give the alert should a predator approach. They also took much longer and closer care of their chicks, with the males involved too and also various combinations of co-parenting which meant the chicks were well protected. On several occasion I have witnessed both hens and cockerels attack predators, including cats, falcons and snakes, when they felt the group or an individual was threatened. Only in the early days did I ever see a snake in the garden - a 1.5m European grass snake which although not venomous, like the timid vipers we also have, is actually fearless and will attack. So take heart that maybe you could create, within your fenced area, a 'jungle' which could help protect your birds. Hope this is of use and please note all my videos can also be found on Odysee: odysee.com/$/invite/@Pavlovafowl-Organic-Forest-Garden-Poultry:d and a few I've just started to upload to Bitchute: www.bitchute.com/channel/vcVofALZlfgx/ so you have a choice of where to view. I will also be uploading stand alone videos to these two latter platforms in the near future. All the very best and really good luck with your flock, Sue from sunny Normandie
Hi Maria and thank you so much for your lovely comments, they are appreciated. Ringo Bingo is a star, I have him and 4 other Polish from the same hatch of eggs I got off ebay - for my Birthday present 4 years ago. Every home should have some of these birds - if you are interested I have a written article on my site which charts their very unusual history and their amazing personalities: holistic-hen.blogspot.com/2012/05/choosing-chickens-polish-crested-beauty.html#.XJAIBLl7mkB All the very best from Normandie, Sue
Aaww thank you that is such a lovely comment. I've got a whole load of film to edit which is about eating and will have quite a lot of mother and chick interaction whilst foraging or at meal times so I hope you will enjoy that too. All the very best from Normandie, Sue
That sound that mother hens make to call the chicks to food? My pet hen makes that sound when she sees me approaching her coop. She's never had chicks, so it's interesting that she makes that sound to announce my presence to the other hens!
Hi there, that is very interesting. I think chickens can appropriate certain words or phrases they may not momentarily need, for other similar uses,. However, she might be signalling that you are coming and that could mean food because that very sound could simply mean: 'Look food'. There is also a much higher pitched version of it which mine make when they get something really exciting to eat and also I have a hen (Tweetie's mother 'Sugar') who goes absolutely crazy when showing Tweetie food. I believe that she is encouraging the chick to eat, like a parent saying: 'Yum yum, here comes the choo choo' with a spoon of food. Certainly though when I had my first two hens they always came down the garden when they had laid an egg because I gave them a treat - therefore they never bothered to announce the event as most hens do but they used that same phrasing for if they were worried about something in the garden - it is certainly a 'Hey you all, look at this' sort of sound. There's certainly a thesis in here somewhere! All the very best from Normandie, Sue
Hi there Marcie, it is just a wonderful extra dimension to the garden and it wouldn't be Spring without those lovely voices. All the very best from Normandie, Sue
Hi there, good to hear from you and hope you have a great hatch, though it still looks cold with you, they'll need snow shoes when they go out! All the very best, Sue
Hi there, Yes - the direct link was right at the end but I'll give it you again here: ua-cam.com/video/ldaaDhD8kUU/v-deo.html and there was also an introductory article to go with it on my site The Holistic Hen: holistic-hen.blogspot.com/2016/05/if-i-could-talk-to-animals-birds-part-1.html#.XIlpBLl7mkB This also dips into the complexity of bird language, something that is often ignored or underappreciated by humans. Hope you find them both interesting and all the very best from Normandie, Sue
@@Pavlovafowl I love bird language especially chickens. Mummy hens talking is the best. Really helps my PTSD. Just need to move to country and get house after winning lottery haha (one can only dream). I like the physical language, too. My birds speak volumes with body/eye language. 🐦
Hi there, you are so right but the solution may be much easier than you think and I certainly didn't win the lottery, far from it. I'm in the process of editing two films at once at the moment and the second one which is more complicated, so is taking me a little longer, is the story behind how we got here. It also involves an in depth look at cutting costs to the bone to get the life we wanted - I'm hoping it will show that it is achievable. Again there will be a written article to go with it. I also find the way pigeons silently communicate to be fascinating too. From the little that is known of pigeons, one thing that has been established is that they have far better developed senses of hearing, sight and smell than humans but the way they try and I have to say succeed in communicating 'telepathically' with humans close to them is truly amazing. All the very best from Normandie, Sue P.S. there will be more Mummy and chicks involved in Chicken Speak 3, which is about conversation centred around food!
Interesting! I never knew quail could carry their babies like that. :o Informative video about communication between a hen and her babies. Chickens really do make great, cross-species parents! You're doing a great job re-taming the black hen and her chicks that weren't used to humans. I find that creating positive patterns, like you are doing (peacefully bringing the chicks and hen inside at night, gently carrying chicks and hen, probably feeding from the hand, making slow/deliberate movements), really helps to tame most creatures. For about every batch of chicks that I rear, there's always at least one or two that can be especially difficult to train and it really becomes a practice to give them particular attention and make sure they have a positive pattern-behavior assigned to me. You've made great progress with the black hen! :D I've also noticed, and perhaps other poultry-people have too, that feeding boiled or scrambled egg from one's own flock seems to give the chicks and added boost of health. I've begun doing this with the last two batches of chickens I've had and have noticed better health, and perhaps even cognition. I wonder if antibodies specific to the locale are present in one's own chicken eggs. Wonderful video, as always. Thank you! :)
Hi Laura, Thank you for your great comments and insights, I really appreciate them! No, neither did I know mother quail carried their babies but I sort of guessed because the quail chicks were always burrowing right down into the mother hen's feathers and often getting stuck. The other thing I wanted to show but just never managed to capture it on film, was that the mother quail actually shakes them out of her feathers when she thinks they need to feed. I am certain that is because quail need a lot of heat when they are first hatched and she needs to keep them with her close in her feathers until they are somewhere where they can get a good feed and then quickly get back in the warm again. The bonding between us and hens and us and chicks is crucial and getting it to the right balance is a craft, you are so right, it takes a lot of watching and learning and every hatch of chicks is different. Scrambled or sometimes I do hard boiled egg, is an excellent foodstuff and I think the nutrient in it is crucial, particularly for nervous system growth, I'm thinking about the B complex vitamins as well as the amino acids that impact on behaviour. Certainly I would think the immune system too will really benefit from the egg because it is made up of 'you are what you eat', local forage. Interestingly for a cade lamb here the traditional food is cow's milk with an egg in it and the lambs thrive on it. Eggs are an amazing food. All the very best from Normandie, Sue
@@Pavlovafowl Wow, thank you so much for the cool information. :) It's interesting how many things I see with poultry where I'm thinking, "Hmm, why do they do that?" and then the answer is so simple and logical, "They need extra heat." or "They don't want to get blown out of the trees by the wind.". It only makes me even more of a chicken-lady than I already am, fueling my admiration and intrigue for poultry. I thank you for your channel--a wealth of information and just a place to watch good poultry videos. XD
Hi Gina, you are so welcome. I find it absolutely fascinating and I still think we are only just scratching the surface of what they actually are saying and how complex their language is. I remember many years ago we had a huge grass snake in the garden and I only had two chickens then but they saw it before me and made this really strange almost growling sound. Then a week later I was gardening with them and they saw something near to where I was weeding and there was that sound again but not exactly as I remembered it and it was a toad...thankfully! All the very best, Sue
Lovely and wonderful
👍👍👍
what a lovely video
Aaww Demetria, what a great comment, I really appreciate it, thank you. All the very best from Normandie, Sue
Splendid video. I loved it!❤️
Thank you Julian for your lovely comments, they are appreciated. All the very best, Sue
I have 2 white silkie hens that we collectively call bebop. We got them both at 2 days old (the same day). They both look exactly alike and are absolutely inseparable, we free have free ranged them since 6 months of age and even now at 1 year old they are always together. They both went broody in the same box the same day, hatched 6 chicks between the 2 of them, raised them together, and started laying again 4 months later on the same day. They amaze me, they are like one solid unit and if one is somehow (very rarely) separated from the other they both lose their minds until reunited. I've learned so much about these birds in the past year and it's still just as amazing as day one.
Thank you for sharing your great Silkie observations! The bonds between birds are incredible, I never get blasé about their comportment. There are so many different behaviours and expressions of emotion I have witnessed over the years I have been lucky enough to keep them. I did do a whole film and a written article on co-parenting, if you are interested: holistic-hen.blogspot.com/2018/09/co-parenting-in-poultry-mother-other.html#.W6VWi9KYOkA although that is only part of your story. My belief is though, with ancient breeds, such as the Silkie it is often the case that with the right environment they can re-discover some or all of their Jungle fowl roots, one of which is the ability to forge small tight knit communities and bonds, which don't just seem to be about survival but also about true friendships. I have spent years observing our poultry and still literally am only just scratching the surface. The dynamics of bird behaviour within a flock can be so fluid and complex that I don't think we humans will ever understand it but it's great fun trying to comprehend it. Your Silkies sound adorable, long may they prosper, give them a big hug from me and all the very best from Normandie, Sue xx
@@Pavlovafowl I'll definitely check out the film and article! My silkies have amazed me with their bond, they are sisters and they are best friends, we have a flock of 50 (only 2 silkie hens and 1 roo) and none of the other chickens have shown any emotional attachments or friendships as these 2 have, it's really made me reconsider the emotional range of the birds for sure. It brings me great joy watching them look after one another and even bed down together at night. They both went broody on me again yesterday, lol, at least I know they'll work as a team to raise their babies this time as they did the last ❤ thank you for your insight into chickens, I think anyone who spends anytime with their flock can easily figure out that we as humans have kept chickens for so long not just because of their "livestock" qualities but because they are so fascinating to watch and learn from!
O this is so lovely! I just found your channel through Mark Valencia from Self Sufficient Me, and I just came to the right place!
Of course I did dive right into the chicken behaviour playlist: we had 2 little chicks saved from a hatch experiment in a school, and they are about 6 weeks old now. We have to learn EVERYTHING, and preferably right now, better: yesterday. So I am going to binge watch your channel, and learn everything I need to know about caring for and understanding chickens! Thank you for sharing your knowledge :D
Hi there and thank you for such lovely comments, they are appreciated! It will be very interesting to see how your chicks progress, as without a mother they will imprint on and bond to you, so you become the head of their mini 'flock'. However, they will also have inherent behaviours and your providing them with a sympathetic environment will bring these out in them. Good on you for saving them from the hatching experiment, it will be a great adventure. I do have written articles on chicken behaviours too, which you might find interesting, they include more detail than obviously a short film can show. This is the contents 'tab' for the page on behaviour and speech: holistic-hen.blogspot.com/p/behaviour.html#.XUe7Yiwv6V4 There are more articles and films on this subject to come - I just need to get time to edit and write them up! I started with two hens, they were a part-payment for looking after our neighbours' flock whilst the former were away on holiday - I now have a lot more than two and I'm guessing you will too! Thank you so much for binge watching my channel! Really good luck and keep me posted. All the very best from sunny Normandie, Sue
P.S. Thanks for the link back to Mark Valencia, I guess this is through a comment made about raising quail with a hen.
Yep, exactly that. Someone referenced to you, and Mark provided your name, and you commented :D
I am also curious to see how our chicks grow up. We learned them to not be afraid of touching, we learned them where the water is by dipping their beaks in it, and where food is, by tapping on it. A little like motherhens would do. And today I found them roosting on a stick we added to their little pen. We want to build a big pen, including a tree, so I guess they will fly in one day! :D
Thank you for the link! I will study it ;)
-with love from The Netherlands-
Awesome
Thanks Edge Sam! I appreciate you comments as always. Best wishes from stormy Normandie, Sue
@@Pavlovafowl Thank you so much it's always great video very enjoyable.
Another great video!
Thanks Jaye for your comment, it is really appreciated and wishing you all the very best from Normandie, Sue
I am so jealous of people that live where there is not an over abundance of predators as there is where I currently live. I once lived where they were safe. Now, I don't dare have a lot of chickens out free even in a fenced area unless I am physically out there too. My coops have to be super protective against everything from snakes to whatever. Love your videos of them.
Hi there and thank you for your comments re my videos, much appreciated. I did used to get a lot of problems with even the few predators we have, mainly birds of prey, martens and rats but I found as the forest garden grew out of the abandoned field it once was, things changed. Not only because the vegetation blocked the easy flight paths in particular the clear entry and exit for the birds of prey but also by the very nature of forest living, which seemed to make my birds more cohesive and united as a group. They developed an almost Jungle Fowl structure - splitting the once single flock into smaller flocks, and within that forming pairs and tight friendships. They also began living much more within the lower and higher canopy where they could be both off the ground and high enough to give the alert should a predator approach. They also took much longer and closer care of their chicks, with the males involved too and also various combinations of co-parenting which meant the chicks were well protected. On several occasion I have witnessed both hens and cockerels attack predators, including cats, falcons and snakes, when they felt the group or an individual was threatened. Only in the early days did I ever see a snake in the garden - a 1.5m European grass snake which although not venomous, like the timid vipers we also have, is actually fearless and will attack. So take heart that maybe you could create, within your fenced area, a 'jungle' which could help protect your birds. Hope this is of use and please note all my videos can also be found on Odysee: odysee.com/$/invite/@Pavlovafowl-Organic-Forest-Garden-Poultry:d and a few I've just started to upload to Bitchute: www.bitchute.com/channel/vcVofALZlfgx/ so you have a choice of where to view. I will also be uploading stand alone videos to these two latter platforms in the near future. All the very best and really good luck with your flock, Sue from sunny Normandie
What a wonderful film clip if your gorgeous chickens..quails. . I especially love how the chick grew up with a fluffy head....soooo adorable. .😊😊
Hi Maria and thank you so much for your lovely comments, they are appreciated. Ringo Bingo is a star, I have him and 4 other Polish from the same hatch of eggs I got off ebay - for my Birthday present 4 years ago. Every home should have some of these birds - if you are interested I have a written article on my site which charts their very unusual history and their amazing personalities: holistic-hen.blogspot.com/2012/05/choosing-chickens-polish-crested-beauty.html#.XJAIBLl7mkB All the very best from Normandie, Sue
Goodness, this is too adorable!
Aaww thank you that is such a lovely comment. I've got a whole load of film to edit which is about eating and will have quite a lot of mother and chick interaction whilst foraging or at meal times so I hope you will enjoy that too. All the very best from Normandie, Sue
That sound that mother hens make to call the chicks to food? My pet hen makes that sound when she sees me approaching her coop. She's never had chicks, so it's interesting that she makes that sound to announce my presence to the other hens!
Hi there, that is very interesting. I think chickens can appropriate certain words or phrases they may not momentarily need, for other similar uses,. However, she might be signalling that you are coming and that could mean food because that very sound could simply mean: 'Look food'. There is also a much higher pitched version of it which mine make when they get something really exciting to eat and also I have a hen (Tweetie's mother 'Sugar') who goes absolutely crazy when showing Tweetie food. I believe that she is encouraging the chick to eat, like a parent saying: 'Yum yum, here comes the choo choo' with a spoon of food. Certainly though when I had my first two hens they always came down the garden when they had laid an egg because I gave them a treat - therefore they never bothered to announce the event as most hens do but they used that same phrasing for if they were worried about something in the garden - it is certainly a 'Hey you all, look at this' sort of sound. There's certainly a thesis in here somewhere! All the very best from Normandie, Sue
I always love listening to my hens with their chicks.
Hi there Marcie, it is just a wonderful extra dimension to the garden and it wouldn't be Spring without those lovely voices. All the very best from Normandie, Sue
Thanks for sharing, I have eggs in the incubator, hoping for a good hatch.
Hi there, good to hear from you and hope you have a great hatch, though it still looks cold with you, they'll need snow shoes when they go out! All the very best, Sue
What do you do with all those cheepers?
I keep them, these specific ones were my Birthday present. All the very best, Sue
Was there a chicken talk 1?
Hi there, Yes - the direct link was right at the end but I'll give it you again here: ua-cam.com/video/ldaaDhD8kUU/v-deo.html and there was also an introductory article to go with it on my site The Holistic Hen: holistic-hen.blogspot.com/2016/05/if-i-could-talk-to-animals-birds-part-1.html#.XIlpBLl7mkB This also dips into the complexity of bird language, something that is often ignored or underappreciated by humans. Hope you find them both interesting and all the very best from Normandie, Sue
@@Pavlovafowl I love bird language especially chickens. Mummy hens talking is the best. Really helps my PTSD. Just need to move to country and get house after winning lottery haha (one can only dream). I like the physical language, too. My birds speak volumes with body/eye language. 🐦
Hi there, you are so right but the solution may be much easier than you think and I certainly didn't win the lottery, far from it. I'm in the process of editing two films at once at the moment and the second one which is more complicated, so is taking me a little longer, is the story behind how we got here. It also involves an in depth look at cutting costs to the bone to get the life we wanted - I'm hoping it will show that it is achievable. Again there will be a written article to go with it. I also find the way pigeons silently communicate to be fascinating too. From the little that is known of pigeons, one thing that has been established is that they have far better developed senses of hearing, sight and smell than humans but the way they try and I have to say succeed in communicating 'telepathically' with humans close to them is truly amazing. All the very best from Normandie, Sue P.S. there will be more Mummy and chicks involved in Chicken Speak 3, which is about conversation centred around food!
Interesting! I never knew quail could carry their babies like that. :o Informative video about communication between a hen and her babies. Chickens really do make great, cross-species parents! You're doing a great job re-taming the black hen and her chicks that weren't used to humans. I find that creating positive patterns, like you are doing (peacefully bringing the chicks and hen inside at night, gently carrying chicks and hen, probably feeding from the hand, making slow/deliberate movements), really helps to tame most creatures. For about every batch of chicks that I rear, there's always at least one or two that can be especially difficult to train and it really becomes a practice to give them particular attention and make sure they have a positive pattern-behavior assigned to me. You've made great progress with the black hen! :D I've also noticed, and perhaps other poultry-people have too, that feeding boiled or scrambled egg from one's own flock seems to give the chicks and added boost of health. I've begun doing this with the last two batches of chickens I've had and have noticed better health, and perhaps even cognition. I wonder if antibodies specific to the locale are present in one's own chicken eggs. Wonderful video, as always. Thank you! :)
Hi Laura, Thank you for your great comments and insights, I really appreciate them! No, neither did I know mother quail carried their babies but I sort of guessed because the quail chicks were always burrowing right down into the mother hen's feathers and often getting stuck. The other thing I wanted to show but just never managed to capture it on film, was that the mother quail actually shakes them out of her feathers when she thinks they need to feed. I am certain that is because quail need a lot of heat when they are first hatched and she needs to keep them with her close in her feathers until they are somewhere where they can get a good feed and then quickly get back in the warm again. The bonding between us and hens and us and chicks is crucial and getting it to the right balance is a craft, you are so right, it takes a lot of watching and learning and every hatch of chicks is different.
Scrambled or sometimes I do hard boiled egg, is an excellent foodstuff and I think the nutrient in it is crucial, particularly for nervous system growth, I'm thinking about the B complex vitamins as well as the amino acids that impact on behaviour. Certainly I would think the immune system too will really benefit from the egg because it is made up of 'you are what you eat', local forage. Interestingly for a cade lamb here the traditional food is cow's milk with an egg in it and the lambs thrive on it. Eggs are an amazing food. All the very best from Normandie, Sue
@@Pavlovafowl Wow, thank you so much for the cool information. :) It's interesting how many things I see with poultry where I'm thinking, "Hmm, why do they do that?" and then the answer is so simple and logical, "They need extra heat." or "They don't want to get blown out of the trees by the wind.". It only makes me even more of a chicken-lady than I already am, fueling my admiration and intrigue for poultry. I thank you for your channel--a wealth of information and just a place to watch good poultry videos. XD
It’s amazing how they communicate!! God’s creation is marvelous!! Thank you so much for the video!!
Hi Gina, you are so welcome. I find it absolutely fascinating and I still think we are only just scratching the surface of what they actually are saying and how complex their language is. I remember many years ago we had a huge grass snake in the garden and I only had two chickens then but they saw it before me and made this really strange almost growling sound. Then a week later I was gardening with them and they saw something near to where I was weeding and there was that sound again but not exactly as I remembered it and it was a toad...thankfully! All the very best, Sue
Primeiroo video muito top👏👏👏❤
Muito obrigado e melhores desejos da Normandia, Sue