Chicken Behavior
Understand your flock: the pecking order, pecking and feather picking, broody hens, rooster aggression, chicken sounds and body language, dust bathing, and introducing new birds.
Chicken Pecking Order
How the flock hierarchy works, how chickens establish it, where the rooster fits, and how to tell normal behavior from bullying.
Read guide →Why Are My Chickens Pecking Each Other?
The common causes of harmful pecking, from overcrowding and boredom to diet and parasites, plus practical fixes to stop it.
Read guide →Broody Hen: What to Do
How to tell if your hen is broody, whether to let her hatch chicks, and how to safely break broodiness if you do not want more birds.
Read guide →Rooster Aggression
Why roosters become aggressive, how to handle an aggressive rooster safely, when to rehome, and whether you even need a rooster.
Read guide →Chicken Sounds and What They Mean
Decode chicken sounds, from the egg song and contented clucking to alarm calls, crowing, broody growls, and chick peeping.
Read guide →Chicken Dust Bathing
Why chickens dust bathe, why it is essential for clean feathers and parasite control, and how to set up a dust bath.
Read guide →Introducing New Chickens to the Flock
Quarantine first, then use the see-but-no-touch method and a calm timeline to add new birds without serious fighting.
Read guide →Feather Picking
Why chickens pick feathers, how to tell picking from molting, and how to stop it by fixing crowding, boredom, diet, and parasites.
Read guide →Do Chickens Need a Rooster?
Whether you need a rooster for eggs, what roosters do for a flock, the downsides like crowing and aggression, and how to decide.
Read guide →Chicken Body Language
How to read your flock, from happy foraging and sunbathing to raised hackles, submissive squats, and the signs of a sick bird.
Read guide →Why Is My Chicken Sitting in the Nesting Box All Day?
All-day nest sitting usually means a broody hen. How to spot broodiness, whether to let her hatch chicks, and how to break it safely.
Read guide →Why Won't My Chickens Go in the Coop at Night?
Birds refuse the coop because it is not home yet, they want to roost high, or mites drive them out. How to train them and keep them safe.
Read guide →Why Are My Chickens So Loud?
The egg song, morning hunger, alarm calls, and box squabbles decoded, with ways to quiet avoidable racket and when noise means trouble.
Read guide →How to Catch a Chicken
The easiest way is after dark off the roost. Calm daytime methods, how to hold a bird safely, and the tools that make catching simple.
Read guide →Backyard Chicken Keepers Planner
10 printable worksheets to track your flock's health, eggs, feed, and coop care.
Get the Planner for $39