Chicken revenge?

[K0k0shka]

I've noticed an interesting little behavior that I think is revenge, but I wonder what you guys would think of it. My chickens generally get along very well, I've never had any true bullying with injuries or lost feathers. This past spring I integrated 3 new pullets and everything went very well there too. However, there still is this one hen that's just a little meaner than the others. She doesn't do any damage, but she will make a point to chase the pullets around, or to try to boss the lower ranking hens around, though I don't think she's the leader (it doesn't look like there is one consistent clear leader). She's a Lemon Cuckoo Orpington, same age but smaller than my other Orpingtons. I also have two DSL Barnevelder hens of the same age as the Orps, a year and a half old (they were all brood mates), much smaller and lower ranking than her. They always defer to her and try to get out of her way. However, I've noticed that when I have her in my lap, with my arms around her for cuddle time, one of the Barnevelders likes to jump into my lap and take advantage of the fact that the mean hen can't get away, and she'll peck the crap out of her! The "I'll show you!" kind of pecks right on the head. Meanie needs to be put in her place, to be honest, so I kind of keep her there for a second and then let her go after a few good pecks (no blood or damage, just a little prophylactic damage to the ego). She jumps down and the Barnevelder gets comfortable in my lap. She will never ever do this under any other circumstances, only when meanie is restrained like this. She also doesn't do it when I have any of the other hens or pullets in my lap. The pullets rank lower than her, but she'll happily share my lap with them and they'll just sit there together.

So what do you think? Is this chicken revenge?

Here she is, looking so deceptively innocent

 

[Sally PB]

I think it's pecking order that looks like revenge. We anthropomorphize our chickens. I do it a lot.

 

[K0k0shka]

I think it's pecking order that looks like revenge. We anthropomorphize our chickens. I do it a lot.

The revenge thing was only half serious The pecking order explanation confuses me because the Barnevelder is lower in the pecking order and always defers to the mean Orp, except in this very narrow context.

 

[aart]

Have heard and experienced this....I don't know why it happens.

 

[K0k0shka]

Plot twist! This Barnevelder's twin sister, who is even smaller and at the bottom of the pecking order, just b****-slapped the meanie and sent her running!!! I think I may have even seen some feathers flying. I wasn't holding anybody this time, this was a free interaction out in the run, as they were scratching around. The small hen had her hackles raised and looked pissed! I wonder if she got emboldened by seeing her twin peck the meanie? She's smaller than the pullets and extremely meek, and I've never seen her initiate anything with anybody before. There seems to be some serious reshuffling going on...

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

I have seen the lowest bird in the pecking order and the highest bird go after each other in my group. Also I have a bird if she sees something on the lowest pecking order birds, she chases it around until she gets it of. Usually pecking the feathers off. Also if I am holding the lowest pecking order birds the higher ones pack them as soon as I let her go.

 

[K0k0shka]

I have seen the lowest bird in the pecking order and the highest bird go after each other in my group. Also I have a bird if she sees something on the lowest pecking order birds, she chases it around until she gets it of. Usually pecking the feathers off. Also if I am holding the lowest pecking order birds the higher ones pack them as soon as I let her go.

That makes sense. I'd just never seen it in reverse (lower one pecking a higher one).

 

[Swbertrand1]

For what it's worth, we think we have noticed multiple pecking orders in our flock. There is the primary pecking order, but I'm almost certain that we've witnessed mini pecking orders among some of the birds when the flock is spread out in the evenings.
In short, some of the birds that are mid-pack will be clearly dominant over birds above them in the "primary" or full pecking order when the even higher-ups are not around. Maybe that's a mid-pack reset, but we've seen it more than once. When the full group goes back to the coop, all seems to be back to the primary order...

 

[Sally PB]

^^Interesting! How many birds do you have? How many are laying?

 

[K0k0shka]

For what it's worth, we think we have noticed multiple pecking orders in our flock. There is the primary pecking order, but I'm almost certain that we've witnessed mini pecking orders among some of the birds when the flock is spread out in the evenings.
In short, some of the birds that are mid-pack will be clearly dominant over birds above them in the "primary" or full pecking order when the even higher-ups are not around. Maybe that's a mid-pack reset, but we've seen it more than once. When the full group goes back to the coop, all seems to be back to the primary order...

It's always been hard for me to figure out a linear pecking order, and I definitely can't tell if there's a leader or not. It's more like individual relationships between different birds, and yeah, it depends on the context, too. It's not as clear as one might think.