[Photo credit: backyardchickencoops.com]
We as chicken keepers should want to know everything we can about the creatures we care for. When it comes to chickens and other kinds of poultry, one of the most essential characteristics of all flock behavior is the pecking order. And it is very crucial that we as the moderators, if you will, understand how the pecking order is established and how it operates.
By nature, chickens are social animals who form their flocks based around a hierarchy. While this form of ranking may seem harsh at times, the pecking order actually functions to maintain peace within the flock. By knowing which chicken belongs where, our birds will quickly organize themselves in a manner through which everyone behaves based on their individual ranking. At its core, this social structure actually will reduce flock stress levels provided each bird knows its place. However, it doesn't take much to throw off the balance of the pecking order and create chaos amongst the chickens. In this article, we'll be discussing what exactly the pecking order is, when it is first established, what can disrupt it, and how we, as caretakers, can best cater to it.
First things first, what is the pecking order? Simply put, the pecking order is a ranking or hierarchy created amongst every flock that determines which birds do what and when. Top ranking chickens eat first, drink first, nest first, get first dips on treats and roosting spots, and let other flock members know if they step out of line. And believe me, they love to remind each other who belongs where! Once the pecking order has been established, fights will diminish and peace will win out. Top birds often will usually just shoot lower birds "a look", which means get out of the way or get pecked.
There's a lot of debate around which chickens tend to be the top rankers. Many people assume roosters will always be the top bird, which is often the case. However, don't let the gender fool you; hens can easily reach the status of "queen bee" in any flock, regardless of the presence of a rooster or not. People also often claim that the bigger chickens will rank over the smaller. Again, this is very common but isn't true for every flock. Smaller breeds can be feisty and bossy and will sometimes rule out over the larger, more docile chickens. Rank placement can also depend heavily on age. Older, more mature chickens often continually rank over younger ones, regardless of breed or gender. However, as old age sets in, a top ranker may be more inclined to allow a younger, more eager bird to advance above it.
Ultimately, the pecking order will be different for every flock. I raised a flock of five chickens one year, and one of my Orpingtons came through as "the queen". Even after the years of introduction of new bigger birds, PLUS her becoming lame in one leg as she aged, she remained the top bird until she died. It all depends on how determined your chicken is to remain on top.
Chickens begin to develop the pecking order at an early age. Chicks will essentially "face off", and confront each other until one wins through as champion and the others fall into their placings all the way down to the lowest rank. Usually between their second or third week of life, they'll have the pecking order mostly sorted out between themselves. It's important that their brooders are spacious, especially as they go through this transition. Determining dominance is not always an easy process, and there will be squabbles and small fights. Don't break anything up unless it leads to bloodshed or bullying. (Note: it may be smart to use a red bulbed heat lamp so that, if there is slight bloodshed, the chicks will be less likely to notice and peck at it.) Once the pecking order is established among the chicks, they will quickly settle into their new routine knowing who's boss.
If the chicks aren't artificially raised in a brooder, a mother hen will happily educate them on how the pecking order works. While she won't suddenly turn on them and peck them to death, she will gradually start to peck each of them softly on the head or back when she's eating, sleeping, drinking, etc. This will help associate them to the pecking order protocols while still insuring their safety and care from their mothering hen. Once it comes time for her to leave the chicks on their own, she will have already integrated them into the rest of the flock, and they'll be well aware of their rankings by this point.
Most likely, you can expect the rank order your chicks arranged among themselves as youngsters to stay consistent as they mature. There is always the possibility that a lower ranking bird will choose to challenge those above it and win, but this doesn't happen frequently. Chickens don't enjoy chaos within their social standing and usually tend to avoid it at all costs. However, there are certain stress-filled events that will inevitably throw off the entire ranking system. These include:
• The introduction of new birds
• A sudden death of one or multiple flock members
• Selling or getting rid of certain flock members
Whenever one of these events occur amongst a flock, the pecking order will need to be re-established. Everytime this happens, it causes lots of stress on every bird. Egg production will likely decrease, health issues may arise, and bullying/ cannibalism are much more likely to occur. Further on in this article, you'll read how you as the caretaker can help make these events as stress-free as possible. For now, just know that limiting the number of times you add new birds to your flock, preventing illness and, of course, death at all costs, along with not regularly getting rid of/ swapping out chickens will all greatly increase peace and quiet within the pecking order.
As we reach the final discussion points of this article, we'll be looking at how we as the chicken keepers can help cater to and accommodate the natural structure of the pecking order within each of our flocks. It was already stated that chicks establishing their rankings in a brooder will greatly benefit from a red heat lamp and plenty of space to run, flap, and hide if needed. During their first week, they won't need much space as they'll mostly just be sleeping, staying warm, eating, and drinking. However, by week two, they'll be acting a bit crazy with their constant exploring, digging, running, chasing, and pecking. Plan to offer them at least 0.5 sq. ft per bird during their first week or two, and increase their space by at least another half or full square foot every other week. By 8-10 weeks, their brooder should have roughly 3-5 sq. ft. per bird provided since it is their only living area for the time being.
When it comes to housing chickens, always think, "the bigger, the better", regardless of their age. The more space they have, the less often fights and squabbles will break out resulting in a more calm and relaxed flock overall. Once the birds are in their adult living quarters, they should have about 2-4 sq. ft. per bird in their henhouse and 8-12 sq. ft. per bird in their run/ free range area. I'll say it once again, more space is always better! Not to mention with how addicting chicken keeping is, you'll soon be grateful you made the coop bigger than you initially thought was needed.
[Photo credit: Wordpress.com]
When introducing new birds to an already established flock, you as the caretaker need to be very strategic and cautious on how you plan to do so. Luckily, there are many effective tried-and-true methods that various poultry keepers have discovered. I won't go into each of them right now, but I will link some articles down below on how best to introduce new flock members to old ones. What you need to know about this issue though, is that when it comes to disrupting a pecking order, there's no more sure way to do it than by adding in new chickens. Regardless of the method you use, here are several tips and facts to keep in mind:
• Provide lots of distractions! Toys, treats, dirt baths, lots of roosts, straw or leaves to dig in, room to roam, stumps and logs to hop up on, bushes to hide behind, mirrors to look at, anything you can add to distract your birds from the newbies will be immensely helpful.
• Give out treats high in protein. This will help prevent feather picking and cannibalism. When chickens are stressed, they are extremely prone to developing bad habits. Feather picking is one of these bad habits that is all too common. Since feathers are mostly made up of protein, providing extra protein in treats such as oatmeal, quinoa, scrambled or hard boiled eggs, meat scraps, whole corn, dry dog or cat food, black oil sunflower seeds, and mealworms will decrease their likely-hood of wanting to eat feathers.
• Know that you won't get many eggs. As previously stated, stress equals a decrease in egg production, and introducing new birds is one of the biggest causes of stress chickens experience. So don't get upset if your nest boxes suddenly are empty!
• Introduce chicken lookalikes. It tends to be a common occurrence that chickens like other chickens that resemble them. For example, if you have a flock of Black Australorps and Buff Silkies and plan to add two more of each breed, you can expect that, once the pecking order has been re-established, the new and old breed lookalikes will bond with each other. On the flip side, take extreme caution when adding a few different colored chickens to your flock. A breed that looks totally different than what a flock is used to is 100% more likely to get badly bullied.
• Don't introduce only one or two new birds. This won't end well. Your established flock will mostly likely team up and attack the newbies, if not kill them. It's always best to add new birds in numbers greater or equal to the number of your existing flock. This might seem like it will only multiply the stress levels, but trust me, the newcomers won't think so! The more birds you can add to an existing flock, the better the new pecking order establishment will go.
• Don't put the new birds in the henhouse at night. This method usually only ends in bloodshed. Chickens aren't as dumb as some people may imagine, and as soon as dawn cracks, they'll quickly realize the presence of new birds and instantly take them on in what turns out to be utterly brutal attacks. Sometimes this method of introduction can be successful in especially large flocks with 50+ birds, but overall I wouldn't recommended trying it.
• Don't introduce a rooster to a flock of hens. This never works out well. The best way to keep a mixed gender flock is to raise them together from the start. Adding a rooster to hens that aren't used to having one around will only result in brutal attacks, lots of confusion, and tons of stress on both them and you!
• Try and avoid introducing a new rooster to an old one. Speaking of roosters, while not impossible, introducing a new male to an old one is very difficult. More docile breeds will be quicker to adapt than others. Although it has been done successfully, I don't recommend introducing roosters to each other if they didn't grow up together. Your hens will also be caught in the middle of the stress, which won't benefit them either. If at all possible, avoid getting new roos until your old ones are no longer around.
[Photo credit: thehappychickencoop.com]
• Be quick to remove and isolate an injured or bullied bird from the flock. This can turn ugly fast! If you notice one chicken being cornered or bleeding, remove it, clean any wounds, provide it with plenty of food, and water with apple cider vinegar added to it. Only re-introduce it when it has fully recovered. Watch carefully to make sure it isn't teamed up on again.
• Let them free range! If your birds are normally confined to a run, try and host the introductions on neutral ground in wide open spaces. This will provide the newbies with more places to escape and hide, while also giving the old chickens less familiar territory to defend.
• Be patient! This last one is definitely not the least of these. Re-establishing a flock hierarchy is not easy as we've seen, and it will take a while no matter how many times it gets disrupted. Be patient with the chickens, and don't constantly be interrupting their fights unless they seem particularly vicious. The only way to regain the order of various rankings, chickens will need to sort themselves out, which takes time and lots of patience on our end.
Now that we've covered how we can best attend to the introducing of new birds, let's look at how we can best cater to our birds who aren't going through the stresses of new chickens being added but rather just going about their daily routines. Since the pecking order is an always existing aspect of our flocks, we should constantly expect to see our chickens act within the bounds of their rankings on a daily basis. This means the top birds will eat, drink, and roost first, peck others who get in their way, and act entitled. It also means the lower ranking birds will tend to act more timid and anxious around the others, expect to eat and drink later, and not get in the way of those above them.
If your flock is on the larger side, try and provide multiple feed and watering stations to insure everyone gets to eat to their little heart's content. Also be sure to provide enough nest boxes (1 box for every 2-3 hens) and ample roosting space. Getting situated at night is a time when chickens squabble a lot. They are very particularly about their roosting spots and who it is they sleep next to. Make sure they aren't crowded and have plenty of spots to choose from. Overcrowding is always cause for more unnecessary fights and unwanted stress.
Finally, let's talk about what to do with a particularly nasty bird. When it comes to roosters, by nature, they tend to view everything, including us, as a threat to their status. You generally can correct this behavior in young cockerels by showing you're the boss through either picking them up and holding them upside, holding their head to the ground while pinning their wings and back down with your other hand, and never backing down if they ever stand up to you. Older roosters are much harder to train though. Unless he's particularly aggressive, he probably won't attack you but still may always view you as a potential threat. Sometimes roosters are just plain mean and either need to be re-homed, sold, or put in the crockpot. Other times, roosters can be very docile and sweet-natured both to you and their ladies. It mostly depends on what breed they are and how they were reared.
When it comes to dealing with an aggressive, top ranking hen, there's several approaches you can take. The best thing I've found to do is simply separate her from the rest of the flock for an hour or two. Make sure she's still within view of the others, but not within reach. A dog crate, see-through box, or ordinary cage will work fine. Once she returns, she'll be more relaxed and calm. Sometimes an overtly aggressive hen will need to be re-homed for the overall health and well-being of a flock. Other times, hens can be triggered to act hostile if they're overcrowded, not receiving proper nutrition, are particularly stressed or agitated, or notice another chicken with a wound or injury. Be on the lookout for all of the above.
This article may have made the pecking order seem a lot more complicated and frustrating than it really is. Remember though, in essence the pecking order is designed to reduce stress in a flock by insuring every chicken knows its place and the places of those around it. It actually is quite astonishing just how in-tune chickens are to their interaction with and social status amongst one another. They aren't stupid, and they take their pecking order very seriously. There are many things that can disrupt the hierarchy of our birds, but there's also a lot we can do to assist them and lessen their stress-levels within their individual ranks.
Hopefully you learned a lot and can walk away more aware of how the pecking order works and the significance it holds for each of our chickens. Thanks for reading!!
Articles on introducing new birds:
• https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...using-the-“see-but-don’t-touch”-method.67839/
• https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/adding-to-your-flock.47756/
• https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-to-integrate-your-chicken-flock-the-easy-way.63034/
• https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/introducing-one-hen-to-another.55362/
