Can pecking order change?

deweyprimjosiedelilah

In the Brooder
8 Years
Aug 15, 2011
14
0
22
As older chicks, the pecking order of our flock of four hens was very apparent. Lately, however, it's not so clear. The pullets are now 16 weeks old. The old "alpha" is now very sweet and another hen seems to be the bossy one. Is it possible for the pecking order to change this late?
 
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The pecking order is a constantly changing condition. Everyone on the bottom is plotting as to how to make their way to the top. This is why chickens react so quickly to weakness real or perceived.
 
Yes. Pecking order can change at any time for a great many reasons. If the boss hen gets sick, or goes broody and "leaves" the flock for a while, losing one flock member for any reason...

Pecking order is part of what makes "chicken TV" fascinating. It is a soap opera.
 
Agreed....it is in a constant state of flux.

The chickens are constantly trying to jockey around for position to get better food/roosts etc....so any sign of weakness at all makes the bird fair game to the others.
 
Thanks! I heard somewhere that the pecking order is set from the first week of their lives together. Apparently that source was wrong! This explains a lot
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Well, pecking order can 'begin' to start occurring that early, but it just never ends after that. As said before, it's a constantly evolving thing. Any time a chicken gets ill, or new chickens are introduced, or many other things, there is a shake up. Sometimes it can be a little rough to watch...
 
The pecking order is seldom stable for long if there is any size to the flock at all. Sometimes it changes slowly as new birds grow up or older, dominant ones age and grow weaker. Some times it can change in the blink of an eye if lower birds realize a dominant bird is now sick or injured.

I have an EE cockerel just now about six months old. He's a pretty boy but mean as all get out (to other birds). I had another rooster knock himself senseless on the side of the roost house not long ago and the EE jumped him then and there and really began tearing him up. This made me mad because he did this as I was reaching to pick the injured one up so I gave him a swift kick which slammed him into the fence and he fell down stunned. Three other roosters jumped him on the spot and I had to go rescue him too!

It seems to have changed the pecking order though as I now watch two younger cockerels that he used to torment daily chase him up the Time Out tree every morning.

Temperament is one of the qualities I select for so he's shipping out this weekend.
 
Haha, I just told someone today the same thing. It is high drama, just like a soap opera!!!
 

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