I write a lot about chickens. I find them interesting but I am also aware of the amount of 'chicken images' that humans use. To 'be chicken' is to be afraid. I suppose that is an image of how easily chickens will run if you clap your hands or raise your voice at them. Then of course there is 'nesting' and 'brooding' along with 'hen pecking', and 'clucking' one's tongue. All of these clearly reference everyday chicken life.
Having a little flock that consists of only hens is not really natural behavior for chickens but it is pretty common given the laws that regulate keeping chickens in semi urban areas. When I talk about the chickens as I see them I know that I begin with this rather unnatural situation and I really don't have any references for behavior in the wild, if such an arrangement exists anymore for the breeds of chickens that are now domesticated. I bring this up because two of our hens are fighting of late. The oldest hen, Princess, has always been dominant partially due to her advanced age and knowledge of living on this plot of land. A younger hen, Rosie, whose personality is more aggressive has decided to violently challenge the pecking order.
A couple of days ago I saw Rosie and Princess fighting for an extended time and stepped in between them trying to assert my own dominance to get the larger, Rosie to back off. I could not keep her from attacking after several tries so I picked her up and put her in the coop. The door wasn't locked so the others could get in if they needed to find a nesting box, but Rosie, the one inside, couldn't get out at least for a while. Some hours later they switched places with Princess brooding in a nesting box and Rosie out running around. The day went by and they all went inside for the night. This morning when I let them out I saw that Princess had been attacked and was bleeding on her head. She was clucking as was Rosie but they were clearly keeping their distance. I am hoping that the fight for dominance has ended and that Rosie will leave Princess alone in her elder years, but I don't know. I have a friend who keeps chickens and she told me I would probably need to give the aggressive chicken away. Another friend recently told me he had had to kill an aggressive chicken. Keeping chickens as we do is not natural given there are no roosters around and no chicks to train or even any predators to be wary of besides humans.
On the radio a day ago I was listening to a commentary about the situation in Iraq post Sadam Hussein, post transitional government, when Nouri Al-Maliki was first Prime Minister. During that time the men who had been in the Iraqi army were let go from the military but not given a pension to live on. There were about 400,000 ex-soldiers without work, pay or status who were not welcome to join the new Iraqi army. According to the story many of these men eventually became part of ISIS. One interviewer asked whether new leadership in Iraq would be able to reach out to these disenfranchised men and bring them back from ISIS into the mainstream. The answer was "no, it is too late. Their allegiance has been given".
There was a second commentary about Nigeria and the oil industry and the way that the land of the people was given over to oil corporations by a corrupt government. The people there do not even have electricity as a trade for their land and oil deposits. At one point there was a large non-violent movement led by young people demanding fair treatment and compensation but the movement was violently put down by the military. Now many of those same young people have given allegiance to Boko Haram.
It seems that when abnormal situations are set up by outside forces with an agenda of their own the consequences are not easily predicted nor can they be undone without more violent interference. The cycle is unending and those who are vulnerable are most likely to be hurt as others attempt to shift the balance of power or impose a new pecking order. It is interesting how those with power can look for solutions to difficult issues without really taking responsibility for understanding how the situation developed in the first place.
People are not to be compared in anyway with chickens though it does appear that those with power, money and desire too often act as if other people, especially those who are different or those who have valuable resources, have no more right to self determination than harmless chicks -- and then no one knows what to do when the people won't accept domestication.
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