The Art of Introduction

Hi, my name is Erica.  I am married with three children.  I manage a household with numerous pets to include a cat, 2 dogs (by the way, does anyone want them?), and seven chicks in various stages of growth.  I am trying my hand at gardening fruits and veggies this year.  I also remain active at my local Y teaching a Body Sculpt class and Yoga.  My interests include reading, writing, gardening, photography, and traveling.  I hope to resume my Master's classes in Contract and Acquisition Administration in the fall.  There.  That was easy.

Two chicks, both named Erica

In the chicken world, it is not this easy.  A flock establishes a pecking order fairly early, it seems.  How do they figure out who will be in charge?  It is the one who flies and steps on the others heads and backs the most?  Perhaps it is the one who pecks the hardest and/or most frequently?  Or the one who stands the tallest and whose feathers puff out the most?  Or maybe it's the one who can do all these effectively?  I've even considered possibly, just maybe, one may smell more dominant than the rest. Whatever the exact reasoning, it is very interesting to watch.

As many of you know, we have a flock of four, originally five (RIP Bullet), that hatched into the world of an incubator in my closet a few days prior to Easter weekend.  There were more, but five was our limit to keep.  Then, due to plans not going according to plans, two more hatched in the incubator nearly two weeks ago.  The seventh?  Originally coming into our household as temporary guest due to her own flock pecking her like crazy, she is now here to stay.  The younger two and her have already established a pack together.  When one is apart, the others cry until the chick is returned.  It's hard to tell who is the most dominate in that flock.  Scabby (the one who was pecked in her original flock) is older, so she tries to dominate the other two, but I think Willow will eventually win over the leader position.

Today, we did a little introduction to the original group who are now 9 weeks old now.  Eventually, we will get rid of the ones who show themselves to be roosters, but I thought we would see how it went before that happens.  Notice the bigger ones I left in the hen house, for fear they would attack the little ones.

Who do you think you are?!

Scabby stands tall and attempts to approach the original group.  The other two (a blur in the background) stand back.  Oreo and Peep, the two black & white ones and the most dominate, somehow communicate to her to get back.  Probably suffering for PTSS, she did retreat back to her little friends. 

Just look confident guys!!  They will like us, maybe.

Eventually, they all got a little closer together, but I don't think I really felt any love flowing between the two groups.  They were both curious about each other, but I think only so much as to get a whiff of the competition.  At least now there is an awareness of each other.

The lesson: Despite your personal efforts, desires, and hopes that everybody (or every chicken) will get along, be friendly, kind and hospitable toward each other, nature mixed with nurture will simply not allow for it in this life.  This, however, should not totally discourage one from trying.