The earlier post on Fledging Moments can be seen HERE.
“The two surviving chicks has since been reduced to one. On 14th April (yesterday) I saw it foraging on its own, no longer following the mother hen closely. There were a few adult RJF nearby.
“After taking the above video of the chick, I saw some puzzling behaviour. A hen kept on chasing it round and round. The former also chased the male (father of the chick) and another two hens nearby. The chick tried to seek protection from the father but apparently the latter was not doing anything helpful. Eventually the chick and the two hens being chased sought refuge in a Chinese Juniper (Juniperus chinesis). The chasing hen then left the scene to another part of the condo followed by the male (?getting ready for another brood).
“No video of the incidence was taken as I was too absorbed in watching while trying to figure out what was going on.
“Then I saw a different male some distance away. This solved the puzzle as the hens being chased were the two young hens from the third brood LINK. They had found themselves a boyfriend which came from elsewhere recently. The mother hen was the one which chased the chick away for it to lead an independent life.
“This was confirmed this morning (15th April) when the chicks was seen entirely on their own, with none of the other birds of the same feathers in sight.
“Based on this observation, recently fledged chicks leave the mother’s care when they are about 6 weeks old, since the chick fledged on or around 10th March.
“Another observation of the Red Junglefowl is that there is a high attrition of chicks. Other neighbours share this observation.”
Sun Chong Hong
Singapore
15th April 2013
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