Chicken owners over here - a little question for you

[burek]

I'm new to this. My 4 chickens are free range (with TONS of space to wander around), have a feeder full of corn always available to them, they get all the kitchen greens, and anything else edible to chickens that comes out of the kitchen. So is it normal for them to follow me around like overexcited toddlers whenever they see me? Are they still hungry? Or just chancers? Your pearls of widsom would be greatly appreciated. I'm so taken by chickens now that I've put a photo of one of them on my profile - how sad?!

Yes, thats what chickens do. No matter how well fed you keep them, they'll follow you if they think some good might become of it.

Have some fun with it - mini assult courses can be hilarious

Ditto our chickens. Which is a godsend when you want to put them away at any time of the day.

They are also keen on my gardening fork/spade - they always join me in the vegetable patch/compost heap for a spot of digging

They are just feathered little friends who like to join you for a chat and cuddle whenever they can

That's reassuring - thanks for that, ladies
They are very sociable and have their own personalities. Amazing really.

Any of you have a cockerel with yours? Hoping to get one tomorrow.

I hatched my cockerel in an incubator last year

I have eggs hatching as I type

Chickens are top

Eggs hatching under a hen not in my incubator (it only got the one outing and has been gathering dust since then)

I so want hens but DH says no.
Might have to find a fewe 'strays'

Another question - Do any of you have trouble with fighting amongst the hens? There are only 4 of them but one of them - the biggest and blondest - is a bit of a bully, pecking away at the necks of the others. We've read that a cockerel helps keep them in check, and we're still trying to get hold of one. Any experience of this? Is a cockerel the answer?

Cockeral will keep ladies in check but you might create other problems. You are bound to end up with one at some point so I wouldn't go out of your way to aquire one.

What your ladies are doing is establishing a pecking order! Yes I do beleive that is where the phrase comes from.

As with all societies some will be stronger, bossier, greedier, pushier that others. If it gets too bad then you could always have chicken stew but then the hens will go through it all over again re-organizing themselves. I have found that some breeds tend to be bossier than others. The "brownies" ISA browns, Warrens and Rhode Island Reds seem pretty bad whereas the faveroles and silkies I've had have always been perfect ladies about everything

Thanks for that Allmytime. The three that are being pecked around by the bossy one have bare patches on their necks, and one of them has a limp (which is getting better thank goodness) however looking on the positive side, they are still laying, eating, and looking otherwise healthy.

Had a nightmare time last night . Actually managed to buy a cockerel, brought him back, but our dog got very territorial the other end of the garden (barking, and on a chain luckily), frightened it, and it ran away.... It was already dark so there was no chance of finding him in open countryside. He woke us up crowing at 5am up the hillside, only about 100 yards from the house. But he is still freaked out and won't be tempted in closer by food. We're hoping he will hear the hens and come in closer for a look eventually.