pecking order

One of our barred rocks injured her foot. We separated her so she could heal because the other chickens were beating up on her. She is all healed now and we are trying to introduce her back to the flock. we left them free range in the backyard one day and when we came back her come was all...

Hi all. New Member here in Lincolnshire, UK. I've kept bantam hens, mostly for the grandchildren, but also for the calm they bring (usually!) for 5 years. Just half a dozen or so, depending on hatch and despatch issues. We just lost all of our hens but one to a neighbour's dog. :hit So -...

**Please Note, this is in my experience, so possibly wrong** *Put in the names as a wolf pack* Alpha: Often a rooster and another hen. In some cases it can be, a rooster and rooster or hen and hen. These chickens eat first and protect the flock. They have first pick of the roost bar, as seen in...

Even though there was lots of room on the perches, my chickens refused to share them. Often there would be one chicken on the top roost, three on the bottom, and the rest of the hens would try sleeping outside. It was very frustrating moving them into the coop each night. So, I downsized my...

Hi! I'm looking for advice today. Last Thursday, a chicken was running amuck downtown in Nashville, where I work. I live in a more residential part of the city, and I have a small backyard flock of five. Animal Control caught the chicken after lots of drama (including her flying a half block...

Hi everyone! So heres my situation, i currently have 8 chickens, 1 silky bantam roo, and 2 ducks. My coop can manage and house my flock perfectly, its about 10'x9'. My boyfriend came home tonight telling me a man he knows wants us to take in 3 of his hens this friday. He started with 7 last...

I hope this is the right category for this. So my husband and I lost one of our chickens this week and bought a replacement. After doing some research, I discovered that new chickens are best introduced in pairs so that the bullying can be spread between the two and they'll have a buddy in the...

One of my Barnevelder hens got attacked by a hawk last winter and survived, she was isolated from the flock for about a month while she recovered from her wounds - which were pretty severe. Before the attack, she was at the bottom of the pecking order but they all got along (ate together...

Ok, so I may have gotten a little burned on a “chicken deal” for Sapphires. I told the breeder we have a farm, and think that equated “they can take a bunch of cockerels”. My “blue laying” group of 10 chicken has 7 cockerels (not going to be seeing many eggs from them, eh?) They were “about 5...

I've had 3 normally laying rhode island red hens, and i just added 2 barred rocks and 1 buff orphington. Obviously, they started pecking each other, mainly the rhode island reds (Hot Sauce, Princess Carolyn, and Lady Peckinpaw) were the ones doing the pecking. So when are they going to finish...

I have 2 hens (silver laced wyandottes) about 6 months old, and introduced two similar aged hens just this past Monday (about 3 days ago now). I put them in the coop at night and they all seemed okay the next day, but today I've noticed my original 2 are definitely pecking the new ones when...

My 8 month old RIR is the lowest in the pecking order. I had four girls, all raised together, but just lost one to an unknown eggbound problem :( My heart is still healing from that and now my RIR has decided to go from sleeping on the roost area floor to sleeping in a nesting box. I cannot get...

I have 2 silkie chicks from ideal poultry arriving friday. I have a brooder set up in a 5SqFt cardboard box lined with paper towels. I have a chick feeder with medicated starter feed and a waterer that they wont be able to fall into, and a heat 50w heat lamp. Here are my questions: -when should...

I have four hens. I introduced two about four months ago and it went smoothly. Between 2-4 weeks ago the two youngest started laying. The second one in the pecking order is now lowest. She isn’t coming out of the coop. The other three hens are being so nasty to her. It is like they never met...

I have 8 hens. One of them is always getting picked on by everyone else. Every time I try to put her back in with them her neck is pecked so much it bleeds. I’m now keeping her in a separate area with one of the younger hens that was just introduced. She is let out to free range with everyone...

This is our first flock and Pecking Order just took on a whole new meaning. One of our Barred Rocks we had taken to calling "Loner" because she was rarely with the others. On Friday, she disappeared completely for hours when the flock was out in the yard and we assumed the worst, but luckily...

Title pretty much says it all. I have 10 6-8 weeks old chickens in a group. I was wondering if they can have a pecking order.

Hello all! I'm new to the site and decided to join to get some input from all of you that know much more than I do! So tonight was the second time this happened. When I got home from work, I saw all of my chickens roosting on their outdoor roost, all settled in. When I looked in my coop, my one...

hello! I have a polish bantam at the bottom of the pecking order and all the other girls (12 in all) have pulled her feathers from the top of her head in the last few months. I have her isolated in her own hutch but I let her out while I work in the run for about an hour. I am wanting some input...

I recently added 2 roosters to my existing flock of 16 full-sized hens. The girls are 23 weeks old. One of the roosters (Buddy, a bantam cochin) is about 1 year old. The other (Red, a young NH red) is about 3 months. I'm adding their names in here just to make it easier to follow. I typically...