Four very different personalities

One of the great things about chickens is that they have such individual personalities. My four girls are all quite different.

Treacle

Treacle is the biggest of my girls and very placid. She is the least bothered about treats and seems to need the most sleep. She will often be dozing on the big perch and not be bothered to come for treats when the others all come running (except for the scratch mix of corn, meal worms and sunflower hearts which is too irresistible) but if it’s just greens or grapes she won’t come if she is happily perching or dust bathing. She purrs while dust bathing.

She is the one that most likes to sit on me and if I bend down or crouch down for any reason at all she is up on my shoulder in an instant. If I am standing she stretches and turns her neck, looking for a way up.

Treacle seems to be taking the place of top hen from Pepper as she is maturing. She will peck lightly at Pepper to show her, her place and she pecks at Dotty when she is in her way at the treats feeder but doesn’t peck at Bluebell who is bottom hen and never troubles any of them.

Treacle is also the quietest, she only goes “boc boc” if cross or alarmed. She purrs when happy and sometimes make a “quack” sound like a duck.

Bluebell

Bluebell is bottom hen and has been bullied by Dotty but Bluebell has never pecked any of them which is probably why she is bottom hen. Bluebell is the smartest though and will discover anything new first out of all them. She is also the nosiest and has to investigate anything we are doing in the chicken enclosure. She is probably the most mature as her comb and wattles are more mature than the other three.

Because of her being pecked away from the treats by Dotty she has attached herself to me the most, as she sees me as her protector. She will follow me around and runs to the furthest corner when I leave as if to beg me not to go. She is always the first to come to me and follows me around pecking at my clothes. When Treacle jumps on my shoulder, Bluebell circles me while mournfully going “boc boc” as she wants to get up too. Bluebell likes to chat and goes “boc boc” a lot of the time. If she is upset (when Dotty chases her from the treats) she makes it quite clear with a melancholy “boc boc”.

Pepper

Pepper is a very sweet hen. She was the most skittish to begin with so it means all the more to me that she now likes to peck at my clothes and allows me to stroke her. She looks up at me when Treacle is on my shoulder and looks like she wants to come up too.

Pepper is the most vocal of all the girls. She goes “boc boc” all the time and she doesn’t like strangers in their enclosure. If we have visitors she very loudly goes “boc boc” and makes it known that she is not happy.

Unlike the others Pepper is very dainty when she eats. Where as the other three will swallow small grapes whole, Pepper takes her time picking small bits off. Sometimes she will run off with her grape to eat it in peace while the others are wolfing them down.

She was top hen until recently but doesn’t seem to be upset at Treacle taking her place. I have only ever seen Pepper peck at Bluebell occasionally when she is in her way at the treats.

Pepper and Dotty were together from less than a month old and Pepper is patient with Dotty and has never pecked her even when she is in her way at the treats.

Dotty

Dotty is a month younger than the other three girls and is a bully. She was pecking Bluebell away from the treats all the time until recently when Treacle started to put her in her place and she seems to be a bit better, I could put six half apples down and Dotty would keep moving Bluebell away from each one. Dotty only ever pecks Bluebell as she knows that Treacle would peck her back and her and Pepper are too close to peck each other.

I have used a bottle of water spray on Dotty when she is pecking Bluebell, to try to deter her. Dotty is the only one of the four that has no interaction with me and I am not sure if it is because I would tell her off and spray her or if it’s just her nature. She has no interaction with anyone and will not allow me to stroke her. She smartly side steps out of the way if I go to touch her.

Dotty is the greediest and is always first to the treats, she is also the only one that will jump up at me when I go to the storage cabinet where the treats are kept.

Dotty doesn’t have her grown up voice properly yet. She occasionally made a “boc” sound and we thought she was getting her grown up voice but it has never got any further than that. She still twitters with a baby sound. This is quite strange because we had both Pepper and Dotty about four and a half months ago and knew at the time that Dotty was a month younger. Pepper got her grown up voice within a few weeks but after all this time Dotty hasn’t. It is as if she is staying a baby. Pepper is so vocal and yet Dotty never goes “boc boc” just twitters, yet she is much older than Pepper was when she found her voice.

It is amazing how different they all are. Pepper and Dotty are the same breed and are really close but are still so different. They do seem to pair up a lot of the time with Pepper and Dotty together and Treacle and Bluebell together. When I have looked through the coop door at bedtime Pepper and Dotty are always on the top perch and Treacle and Bluebell on the bottom perch, which makes sense as the two smaller girls are on top and the bigger ones at the bottom where there is more space. They all perch on the same side though. They also all sit together on the big outside perch and all dust bath together so most of the time despite any differences they all hang out together. It is amusing seeing their different personalities develop and they are always entertaining.