Does the pecking order change?

[Justanother Brooke]

I've been watching the chickens (ha, imagine that!), and have noticed that the pecking order seems to change from day to day. A couple of days ago, the other chickens kind of ran Poppy the red chicken off, and wouldn't let her in to eat, even pecked at her a couple of times. So today when I was watching, Poppy was right in there with the others, but they were chasing off Bluebell (my mystery is it a he or a she chicken). I've noticed that it seems to go back and forth between those two. The other hen Buttercup hangs out with Abe the Rooster (that is his full name, ha ha!) most of the time, and Poppy and Bluebell both seem to hang out (alternately) with Dottie, the other rooster. Yeah, he needs a new name, I know!
Anyhow, I thought that the pecking order was pretty much established and followed, not a day to day thing unless you removed a chicken for time out or something

 

[sunnyvera]

How interesting - I too had a chick named Dottie - turned out to be a boy - now we call him Big D. Just brought a smile to my face.

 

[Justanother Brooke]

Big D might work! Maybe it's the name...WARNING, DO NOT NAME CHICKS DOTTIE, THEY WILL CHANGE TO ROOSTERS!

Actually my mom may be taking him, and she ALWAYS renames animals when she gets them.

 

[magicpigeon]

Dominance can change very easily - my sussexes were right at the bottom until they grew larger than the silkies. Now the silkie roosters are right at the bottom, with the two mothers right at the top.