Three months have already come and gone since the Pity Pets were brought home.  When released from the coop to free range, the first few weeks they stayed as their own individual unit.  It did not take them long to roam with the pack. Being with the pack provided protection as Nurpel (the second acquired rooster) was on the hunt for a hen of his own and the new hens were his target. Just as the senior flock are not pets, the Pity flock are not pets either.  In fact, I would say they are even less pets than the senior flock.  None of the feather friends can be held, touched, or collected.  On such occasions where a hen needs to be examined it takes all three of us to coral her in the 8×10 coop.  They are truly here for pest control.

Oh, and pooing on the deck and stepping stones. Daily, upon release from the coop, the hens follow a very rigid routine: 1) run to every water location (doggo water, water collection under Rainstream air conditioner, 5 gallon bucket in shower, etc…) and drink as if you are parched and 2) upon water round completion, run to the deck and poop. Your sudden influx of water will run straight thru you and the poop will be a watery mess on the deck.  Perfect.

Stupid chickens.

So yes, within three short months the Pity flock has integrated fairly well into the senior flock.  When inside the coop, there seems to be very little arrangement of the pecking order, even amongst those at the bottom.  Feathers have almost fully returned and they have reached their full grown height.

The two Golden Lace Wyandottes (Twink 1 and Twink 2) are the slightly smaller than the Black Sussex (Squawky McSquawkerson aka Loudmouth aka Fatty).  Given a chance, they could over take her position as queen.  Not something I foresee in the near future as Grumpy still rules the roost, but it is possible.  Maybe.  Her look right now tells me to rethink that last statement, but her days are limited.  The Twinks have the even temperament of the Barred Rocks as they too are not very vocal and are happy being in the middle of the pack.

Closer in size to the smallest Barred Rock (Nosy Nellie, above) is the Golden Sexlink (Sunset) which can be seen in the above picture by the chicken ramp (at the tail feather of Nosy Nellie).  She too is very happy in the middle of the pack but is competitive when being released from the coop.  Watch out as she will charge out the door to be the first to the water bowl.  More than once she has had her head caught in the coop door.  Gulk! Other than her escape moments she is chill.

As for the Brown Leghorn (Ears), she is an outcast thru and thru.  The tiniest of all the hens, she was and is the most picked on.  I keep telling her it was because she slept on the coop window instead of the roosting bars.  But, hey what do I know.  She is also the only hen who lays white eggs which are so tiny they don’t even seem real.  They are oval shaped ping pong balls.  When released from the coop, she leaves to do her own thing and manages to ward off the second rooster (Nurple) mostly. On very aggressive days, she will hang closer to the other rooster (Chicken) but away from the hens.  Days have come where Nurple has succeeded in catching a her, but the ruckus they cause results in Chicken chasing Nurple around and around and around.  It is an epic daily battle.  If the battle continues, or if Nurple becomes too aggressive and hurts a hen, he will have to go.  The hens only need one rooster and Chicken is the man.

It is Chicken who surprised me the most during the integration of the Pity Pets.  He never once flocked them or chased them or rushed them.  He just watched and protected and they came around on their own for his protection.  To date, he has yet tried to advance upon them and yet is just as protective.  See him giving Nurple (under that watering ice chest) the stink eye? With exception to Ears, he is a perfect guard rooster and I cannot image having the hens without him.  Of course, he no longer sleeps in the tree outside the bedroom and rarely crows at 3:35AM anymore.  With time, Chicken has learned to temper back his beakadee-beakadee-beak-beak. Hopefully, he will be around for a little while longer to fully integrate any new additional flock members.