pecking order

I recently picked up a pair of roosters who were raised together - a blue cochin bantam and a NH red. I currently have a flock of 16 full sized hens that are 5 months old. The red is about 2 months younger than my hens, but is basically the same size. The cochin is 1 year old and obviously much...

I have a Barred Rock hen who is basically at the bottom of the pecking order. She constantly gets pecked by a number of my other hens. They seem to peck at two certain spots (probably from blood all ready there). The sores are red and swelled and are where her wings connect to her body. They are...

I will pose my question first, since the back story is a long one: What should I do with my suddenly turned vicious dominant hen? Our rooster has also turned nasty--although that has been a longer, slower process. I am tempted to slaughter them both, but am reluctant to do so. The rooster is...

Im Having an issue with a rooster, i have to admit he was froma farmer who bread fighting cocks and when i got him he was blind in one eye, eventually one of my mother hens died, and when i went to recover the chicks she left, they had already settled with the fighting cock, he basically was the...

My 12-16 week old EE pullet (well, at least I'm 80% sure it's a pullet, lol) has always been the one in charge and is bigger than her sister of the same age... but more and more recently she's becoming more aggressive. I'm wondering if this is normal for the "Top Girl" in the pecking order, or...

Hello, I bought 8 more chicks to add to my flock of 4. When the chicks grew to pullets, I introduced them to my older chickens. I thought everything was going well, maybe one or two pecks at each other, but nothing bad at all. Yesterday, when I got home from school, I found one of the pullets...

Hi everyone. I have 15 chickens, 5 of them being 7 week old Partridge Silkie chicks. I slowly integrated them with the rest of my flock (which consists of a few Buff Orphington Hens, Rhode Island Reds, and a couple Cochins over the past 3 weeks. The last week-ish they have been in the same...

I am wanting some feed back on pecking order behavior. I have 6 hens that are 14 1/2 months old and and also have 5 that are 7 1/2 weeks old. I moved the new chicks out of the garage 2 weeks ago and into a temporary coop set up next to my main coop this allows the 2 groups to easily see each...

Hello, we have hatched some quails and are about 5/6 weeks old! We introduced them into the adult batch and straight away the male got scaled and killed I was warned this was going to happen but I went down today and realised all the other newbies were really scruffy so I picked them up and...

So just thought I would share .... within the last week it seems as if one of my hens has taken the top of the pecking order even passing the roos lol she's always been my dominant hen but usually my oldest rooster is the boss . Well not anymore recently I've noticed her knocking the roosters...

I'm quite new to keeping chickens. We got our three girls from the same brood as pullets around 7 months ago and until now they have been quite happy living together. We get a solid three eggs a a day even through the cold times. There has been a clear leader from the start but there has been no...

About when do chicks start establishing their pecking order? Do I intervene during major squabbles or let them duke it out? Is it a sign that I need to offer more space? Will that help?

The top boss chicken (of the 3) does not let others dust bathe. They dig holes for themselves, start to fluff around and she comes over and pecks at them until they get up. She does not want the spot for herself, she just doesn't want anyone else to have a good time. The 3 of them are frequently...

Hello all! I've been taking care of someone else's chickens for about 3 years, and have finally gotten my own chickens. I have a Buff Polish (R) and 2 Rhode Island Reds (H)(R). My roosters have been getting along so far, but Friday, the Buff got himself into trouble with the RIR rooster...

I introduced two new birds (5 -6 months old to our flock of 3 (7months old) . The Black Australorp has successfully integrated after 1.5 weeks, but the speckled Sussex who is slightly smaller is definitely receiving the brunt of the pecking and abuse. She literally will sit on the outdoor perch...

Please give me your feedback about your experiences with those beautiful, protective and zany Roosters - having more than 1, adding more, what you've done and how you've managed. Although I've had experience with various birds, I'm fairly new to the Chicken World. I love my Roos dearly, they...

Hi everyone, As I mentioned before, I'm totally new to chickens. Just brought home 3 pullets last week. They are all missing feathers on their butts, looks like they had been pecking at each other. The man at the feed barn said they just had anxiety from being at the store, confined, and...

Hello everyone, I have some chicks that are 10 weeks old and others that are 16 weeks old. I also have 3 hens that have ruled over the chicks for since the chicks were born. I was just wondering if the chicks will start fighting the hens when they grow up? Or will they just stay lower in the...

We just acquired two new birds to add to the remaining two in our backyard. One of our original birds is clearly dominant over the others. She chases the two new birds away from food or good spots in the yard. When the birds are all in the run/coop, she pecks, then chases the two new birds...

I have 3 black star 1 year old chickens and 2 younger pullets that are about 18 weeks old. One is an Easter Egger and one is a Wyandotte. I have been trying to get the pullets into the run/coop with the older hens for about a month, and it is just not happening. I have had the pullets in a...