Chicken pecked

[Jasmine]

As I walked to work this morning I came across a small cockerel on the pavement near where I live*.  When he saw me walking close, he sort of wobbled over to me and bobbed his head at me.

I took a step back.  He followed me a bobbed his head around (side to side and up/down).  I managed to walk all the way back to the gate where it lives with him following me and doing the head-bob around my feet.  Then it starts pecking at my flip-flops.  It was quite tame, so I could stroke it and managed to get it inside it's own garden, but what the hell was the head bobbing about?  And why peck my feet?   



*it's owners often leave their gate open and the chickens escape.  Never seem to get run over and wander back in later in the morning.

[pcolbeck]

Chickens do a lot of head bopping. They dont have binocular vision their eyes are on teh sides of their heads. I think its something they just do to get a good look at something and work out how far away it is.

[Pancho]

Cockerels can be utterly evil bastards and are quite capable of doing a lot of damage.

We once had our hens and cock running free-range. But after the cock had chased the children down and set about their heads and faces with talons and beak a few times, we built a chicken coop.

[pcolbeck]

Our chickens like to peck at ladies toenails if they have brightly coloured nail varnish on. They sneak up under the table when you are having a barbi and give our female guests a shock

[Jasmine]

Ahh, I do have blue toenail varnish on.  Maybe it was just the shiny things then.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

As I walked to work this morning I came across a small cockerel on the pavement near where I live*.  When he saw me walking close, he sort of wobbled over to me and bobbed his head at me.

I took a step back.  He followed me a bobbed his head around (side to side and up/down).  I managed to walk all the way back to the gate where it lives with him following me and doing the head-bob around my feet.  Then it starts pecking at my flip-flops.  It was quite tame, so I could stroke it and managed to get it inside it's own garden, but what the hell was the head bobbing about?  And why peck my feet?   

Perhaps you wandered onto the set of a new children's tv series - a bit like Lassie or Skippy but with poultry. It was trying to tell you someone was stuck down a well.

Cockerels can be utterly evil bastards and are quite capable of doing a lot of damage.

We once had our hens and cock running free-range. But after the cock had chased the children down and set about their heads and faces with talons and beak a few times, we built a chicken coop.

Indeed. My brother and I used to be terrified of being made to feed my grandad's hens when he had a particularly vicious cockerel, but our parents thought we were exaggerating and made us do it anyway. That changed when my mum went out to do it one day and it launched itself at her and ended up stuck to her back, pecking at her head.