A dried sunflower head.
You heard me. Now, let me just point out that Peggy and Tina are not fraidy-hens. In fact, there are several things that they should rightfully be afraid of that don't phase them at all. This list includes Nigel, our dog, who, while small, could certainly take a bite out of their legs or neck if he felt like it, and Scampers, the cat who lives in our backyard, whose pretty feisty and good with her claws. The chickens are so unconcerned with Nigel and Scampers that they will walk right between them, causing a convergence of pets that I am not entirely comfortable with. (Happily, everyone practices the survival technique of completely ignoring all the other animals and focusing on me, the provider of food.) So, despite their lack of fear response to actual (unlikely, but possible) predators, when it comes to a dried sunflower head, my chickens exercise extreme caution.
I discovered this fact last week, after my friend Chris very kindly provided me with a big bag of dried sunflower heads from his own garden. I had mentioned to him once that my chickens liked sunflower seeds, so he saved these seed-filled heads especially for them. On Tuesday morning, I strolled down to the coop with what I thought was a wonderful treat for the girls. I figured I'd hang the sunflower on the run fencing, and then the girls could have fun pecking out and eating the seeds over the next few days. That is not what happened.
When I entered the chicken run with the sunflower, Peggy immediately flipped out. She started squawking and flapping and jumping back and forth across the coop. Tina joined in, but with less gusto, as if she wasn't entirely sure what was happening, but trusted Peggy that it was serious. Eventually, both hens scrambled their way into the coop to hide. I was a bit confused about what the problem was, and, honestly, I was late for work. So, I figured I'd just put the sunflower head up as planned and the chickens would eventually calm down and come outside to have their treat. I had also scattered some carrot peels, which they love, in the run, so I figured they would venture out for those for sure.
The following morning, when I went down to let the chickens out for their morning free range, it was clear Peggy and Tina had not left the coop since I last saw them. The carrot peels were untouched, their feeder still had food in it and there they were, huddled together inside the coop. Now, my chickens are extremely food motivated and there is no food inside the coop (just water). They spent a whole day inside, not eating their feed, which they love, or the carrot peels, which they really love, because they didn't want to risk walking past the dreaded sunflower head. That is how afraid they are of this inanimate object.
After shaking my head at the ridiculousness of chicken behavior once again, I removed the sunflower head from the run and lifted the chickens out of the coop and into the yard. They wouldn't go out on their own, just in case the sunflower head was just hiding somewhere out of sight, ready to pounce. Once they realized the sunflower was really gone, they managed to relax a little and are now back to their normal selves.
Happily, the chickens still love sunflower seeds, and Chris' gift won't go to waste. While they weren't looking, I shook a bunch of seeds out of the head and spread them all over the run. Peggy and Tina gobbled them right up, unaware that those tasty treats had come from the very object that had so terrified them the day before. Duh duh dummmmm!
I laughed out loud! Those chickens are a hoot!
OK, this is hilarious. I am only sad that winter is nearly upon us here and I can't get one to try it on my girls.
Hilarious! Chickens are so darned entertaining.
Oh that is soooo funny and that was very nice of your friend to save them for your chickens.
Looking at the photo before reading I thought it might be a large wasps nest hanging on the fence. Perhaps the poor chickens are afraid of wasps?
looks like a snake to me.
It is a huge eye, like a Mordor hawk eye staring down and scaring the chicken s--- out of them.
It sort of looks like rattlesnake scales...
maybe it looks like one of their predators. an owl's face?
it looks like the eye of a creature of fantastic proportion.
To me it looks almost like a large coiled up snake. Maybe that's what freaked them out.
Maybe it looks like a reptile to them. Could you set up an experiment to see what frightens it about it? What would happen if you cut out a square piece and offered it to them? Are they afraid of the shape? Would they be afraid of something of the same shape but a different texture? Does the orientation matter? What would happen if it were lying on the ground instead of hanging up? What if you planted small sunflowers? Would they be afraid of the dried sunflower head if they could see that it was a flower first?
I think Peggy is terrified of the Fibonacci sequence. You should see if she reacts to the form, colors, or pattern.
It may well be that her simple mind is not able to comprehend a shape where moire occurs. To test this, fold some screening material and put it in her area.
I was thinking the same thing as Brent - Do you have any old abandoned paper wasp nests you can place out there to see if they're afraid of those?
I really thought it was a hornet or wasp's nest as well.
How do your chickens normally react to those stinging critters?
It vaguely resembles an owl head.
Perhaps it's the sound it made. Were the seeds dry enough to rattle around? Maybe they thought it was a rattlesnake.
Maybe it's the Eye of Sunfloweron, or some deep ancestral memory of a terrible cthulu-esque sunflower god?
Looks like a creature in the center, displaying it's size, like a fringe lizard would do. I think the owls might be on the mark.
OhmygodOhmygodOhmygod!
Halp halp halp!
That thing scares the hell out of me!
Please take it away, take it away please!
I don't know why, so don't ask! Just take it away!
Thank you.
Mel
P.S. I am not a chicken.
beehive.
My vote would be that they think it is a hornet or wasp nest.
I'll second on the bee hive/wasps nest. That's what I thought it was too after a quick look at the pic.
Plant some sunflowers around the pen, see at which point they get freaked or if they don't when the big gray monster is gradually introduced.
The answer is that the seed pattern looks like snake skin. Find an image of snake skin on the web, print it, and put it in the coop for a control experiment.
They think you want to fatten them up to eat them!!!
It's a snake disguised as sunflower seeds.
Birds (excepting crows and a handful of other smarter species) are afraid of anything that looks like an eye. Scale is unimportant.
To me it looks like a snake with an open mouth. I'm not surprised the chickens want nothing to do with it.
It would be interesting if you planted a couple of sunflowers on the west side of the chicken enclosure. Sunflowers follow the sun when they are young but when then get old, then end up just facing east.
It's birdseye, and they know not to mess with it.
It's the inward eye- a chicken can never look inward and will always run away.
For God's sake take away the sunflower head! Think of the chickens.....the chickens.
I think it looks like an abandoned snake skin.
I zoomed in on it, and to my non-poultry eyes it looks much more like an owl than a snake.
I think the control idea is a good one - try a picture of an owl and a picture of a snake and see how they react.
Chicken Tormentor! It resembles a wasp's nest.
I was thinking it looked like a coiled snake.
beehive or hornets hive. gives me the heebie jeebies too.
Chickens! One of my co-workers swears that he had to slowly build trust back up with our birds because they didn't recognize him after a haircut (a haircut, mind you, that I barely noticed). Anyhow, our ladies LOVE sunflowers, but the dried heads we gave them were mostly of smaller varieties, sometimes broken up already. Maybe they'll be happier about the new snacks if you split the head up?
it looks like a lizard skin... or a coiled feathered snake:)
looks like a bee hive
I agree with everyone who says it looks like a wasp nest. However, I have seen my chickens pick bumblebees off and swallow them whole. So who knows... definitely triggers some instinctive fear response.
JAC
Several years later, I think I've finally figured out the answer to this.
It's called trypophobia, the fear of clustered holes. Surprisingly prevalent in humans, and I'm guessing chickens too!