The Reality Show: The Coop

Here’s a reality show idea: put 9 hens and lock them in a coop for 3 days with 9 older chicks who have lost all their down and have their teenage feathers all in. Give plenty of food and water, and see how they get along. Well, on today’s show, as I peek in to see how it’s all going, it’s laying time. The “old hens” like to lay most in late morning, and are normally done laying by around 3pm.

So as I check before lunch, I see them going through their normal fight over the favorite nesting boxes. We have 4 nesting boxes, but only 2, sometimes 3 get used. You see, the ladies pick their favorites, and they don’t budge. They’re stubborn ones, as you see when you peek in the coop and see 3 of them piled on top of each other, squaking up a storm so you can hear them from the house. They all need to lay right now, and they all need to lay right there. Well, that was going on with 6 of the “old hens” in 2 of the nesting boxes when I checked on them.

The other 3 old hens are climbing up and down their perching ladder. They’re upset I’m looking in the window, and I can tell they’re disturbed by the 9 teenagers huddled in the corner. I make sure all 9 teens are there, and none of them have been trampled. They’re all fine, if you include “terrified” in that definition. They were far outgrowing our makeshift brooder, and ready to escape it at a moment’s notice. I was time for them to join the coop, like it or not. It would risk their lives if they were to escape the brooder by chance and not know where home is.

The teen girls are huddled in the corner, far from the food and water. I’m not sure if they don’t feel like venturing to it, if they’ve already had their fill, if they’re scared of the old hens, or if the old hens have threatened them. Or, it could be the constant thunder we’ve had all night, and continuing on today. So I’ll continue to check on them If they can make it 3 days, I’ll feel comfortable letting them all out to free range again. By then the teen girls will know where home is, and the old hens will know them. I just hope everyone is getting along…

Seriously, I think I need a camera in there to see what’s going on. I think it would be the best reality show ever. You’ll never know how funny chickens are until you have them! I could watch them all day!