Common patterns in pecking order

[earlybird10842]

Have you noticed that if you have a mixed flock with several of one color hen and only one of another, the different-colored hen will be at the bottom? I have observed this in two flocks, my own (we have a bunch of prodution red mixes, and one of them is black.) and a neighbor's (they have four RIRs and a BR) Also, have you noticed any other patterns? (chickens in the middle tend to be friends, ect.)

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Yes, I have noticed this pattern, too.

 

[earlybird10842]

We got our hens from a local free-range egg farm that gives away thier birds when they're past their prime laying age. They gave us the black one because she was at the bottom of the pecking order, poor thing, and they thought she would do better with us. She really did.