If you try to view the world from the perspective of chickens, much of what they do makes perfect sense. They become exuberant when someone approaches them with treats, for example, and fearful when they spot a bird of prey overhead. If I walk out to the coop when it starts to rain, they run out into the pen because they know I'm about to cover it with a tarp.
But sometimes their actions seem inexplicable, at least to a mere human such as myself.
I’ve mentioned here before that Nellie, one of our Rhode Island Reds, broke with tradition for three nights running last week when she tried to sleep in the nest box, rather than on the roost with the other hens. When I finally blocked access to the nest box last Saturday, Nellie moved back to the roost. Since then, she has freely chosen the roost every night, even though the nest box has been unobstructed since my initial decision to close it off for one night.
So a few questions arise. Why did Nellie move to the nest box in the first place? She wasn’t unable to reach the roost because of an injury. There’s no sign she was trying to avoid Snow or Hope because of a fight. And even though chickens have very poor nighttime vision, it’s hard to believe she couldn’t spot the roost in the darkened coop three nights in a row. Did she decide the nest box was more cozy than the roost? Or that she owns the nest box because she's the only hen who's laying these days? Maybe. But if so, why is she no longer sleeping there?
Perhaps the answers are to be found in yet another question. Is it possible that chickens are just as fickle as, well, humans?
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