A Letter from Chris Suarez
JUST RAISING A FEW CHICKENS OVER HERE
This week I lost power at the farm so had no internet and no ability to make outbound calls or receive texts for a few hours. I decided to take a book and go up to the chicken run to hang out with them. I found myself working on my skills of observation by just watching them move around, forage for food, and interact with each other. I watched the roosters, the original group of hens, and the 6 new chicks that were running around exploring the world they recently hatched into.
In one sense, I realized how supportive they were to each other. The roosters kept a look out for any seeming danger - occasionally giving an alarm to which they all responded to by running under cover. The mother hen would follow the chicks around from corner to corner of the yard making sure they had what they needed. Randomly one would let out some strange noise obviously to call over the rest of her friends and let them know she had found some good insects to share. Meanwhile back in the coop another mother is on day 18 of 21 - sitting on three eggs to keep them warm and make sure they have a chance to join the flock. She gets up only briefly for a little water once or twice a day.
But in another sense, they were wildly competitive. They have clearly established a hierarchy amongst the flock, and even the newest members of the family have begun to create one as well. Each chicken has a position in the flock and will peck the one below them to make sure they are aware and remember their place. They will peck when one thinks it’s OK to eat out of order, or if another finds a better bug and takes it for themselves instead of leaving it for someone higher up in the ranks. They will peck if one steps out of line, gets out in front, or takes initiative that doesn’t belong to them.
And they take it to extremes, literally going to the point of pecking and pulling out feathers and even drawing blood if need be to establish dominance.
It is where the expression “pecking order” comes from. Chickens will peck at or hurt each other to gain dominance, status, control, or power.
When I saw it happen, I’d walk over and get involved. I’d try to smooth things out and act as referee for a bit. Ultimately though, I let things play out as the flock intended for it to play out. Sad at first, but they seemed to work it out. After all, it was their instinct, they weren’t in the yard to learn, and chickens aren’t known to rationally talk through things, work things out, and achieve a win-win.
As I sat and watched, I couldn’t help but think how humans can adopt some fairly animalistic traits. Even unknowingly we set up pecking orders amongst social groups and work environments. You need just sit back and scroll through social media on any given day and watch the chickens peck at each other to establish dominance, status, control, power. Sound familiar?
Why do we as humans need to create pecking orders? Why do we look to establish hierarchy. These often begin as early as grade school. It begins with some children literally picking on other children to establish dominance, garner attention, gain importance, or create hierarchy. We see delineations form at the lunch tables, at recess, on sports teams, and even school dances.
It continues through school and often into the workplace and business. You can watch people peck at mistakes, poke fun of others viewpoints and beliefs, look for reasons to downplay other’s success, pick apart their competitors, and at times even draw blood.
There’s no better time than now to surround yourself with a new flock, a new brood. Look for a community that will support you, call out danger, let you know where the good bugs are, warm you up when you are cold and make sure you have a shot to win.
Let those chickens peck all they want (both on the farm and in the office). It’s time to be supportive, tear down hierarchical structures, stop looking for ways to promote ourselves by pushing others down, and begin acting like a real flock. I do love my chickens, but they can definitely teach us a lesson or two on how not to behave.
Chris