When does "pecking order" begin?

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Pecking order does begin very early so it is possible that this is what is happening. Make sure that there is plenty of room for each to get away from one another along with multiple food and water stations.
 
Thank you. They've got a lot of space (we were aiming for this brooder to see up to 10 chicks to the point when they could be moved to the coop...hopefully!) and 2 lots of food and water between the three of them. The little wyandotte is taking to following the legbar around, I think because she's not pecking at it and seems to be better at standing up for herself (although the wyandotte is trying)...it can almost sometimes hide behind her, too :-( We'll keep an eye on them, but other than injury to one of the birds, are there any warning signs we should be aware of if something is amiss?
 
Maybe you can put in items that she can hide behind. And just out of curiosity, how much space do you consider plenty? Each person has their own opinion of how much is enough. I'd never go with the minimum space recommended by some "Experts". My experience says that you can never have too much space for your chickens. No matter how few you have.

Also, once one chick is injured, it is very hard to heal since the others will be drawn to the blood. Make sure you get something to cover it up so they don't become
 
DaniSat said:
At 2 days old one of our chicks (a pekin x wyandotte bantam) is pecking at the other two (a cream legbar and especially a small barred wyandotte bantam) rather a lot. We're not sure if this is trying to establish a pecking order or a little bullying. We have two lots of food and water in with them (the one doing the pecking was chasing the smallest away from the first drinker) and have seen them all drink and peck at the food. It's our first time keeping chickens, and we're a little concerned!

Our first hatch didn't quite go to plan, hence only 3 at the moment!
Click to expand...


That early, they're mainly pecking at things to explore their environment and see if something is edible...sort of like puppies and chewing. I've got two week olds that are chest-bumping though, so it does start fairly early.
 
Right! The chest bumping!? Mine are 2 weeks old, and I saw them doing this today! All females, all about the same size. Out of ten, there is a Cream Legbar and Choc Orps who are leggy and larger. Then I have two Golden Cuckoo Maran (I THINK!?) Who are considerably smaller than the rest of the average sized. The GCMS are much more timid and shy, but they get thier whoops in too. The chest bumpers were a Choc Orps and an unknown. And they came with a packing slip!?
They also like to do this jump/fly move, resulting in chicken bombing a predestined target. Many times the target is at rest, but not asleep. Is this normal pecking order? Is it like puppies? Everything works out as long as someone gives up?
The chest bumping is hilarious. They remind me of little angry high school boys.
 

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