Dominant Hen Sets the Tone

[Mr BrahmaRama]

I’ve had chickens long enough to witness some shifts in the pecking order. I’ve noticed, in my all female flock, the personality of the dominant hen seems to set the tone for all the interactions down the pecking order.

I keep a very mixed flock. Had as many as 10 birds, all different breeds. For about a year and half my big ol Brahma, Nancy, ran the show. She was a nice bird but, a little heavy handed, well...heavy beaked, when it came to flock management. During her reign, the smallest girl was picked on heavily by the everyone but the top 4 birds. 2nd lowest didn’t fare much better. My New Hamshire Red and Andalusian seemed to have it in for the lower ranking hens. After Nancy passed away, my Cochin, Dottie, took the lead.

Dottie is about the sweetest hen you’ll find. I’ve never seen her give more than a gentle peck if someone is crowding the food or water, and even this is rare, yet they all know she’s in charge. Though I miss my dear Nancy, I must say, since Dot took over the little Wyandotte and brown leghorn are having a much easier time of it and the New Hamshire and Andalusian rarely bother anyone. Fighting is almost nonexistent.

Any else notice a shift in overall flock behavior based the behavior traits of who’s in charge?

 

[JaeG]

I've been blessed with a very peaceful flock. Anyone steps out of line our Dorothy, an Houdan, deals with it very swiftly then peace is restored. I've integrated new members easily and quickly. My Mum on the other hand has had issues with bullying in her flock. I think you are right - the leader of the flock really does dictate how the other members act.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

There is an adage in the military that "Crap Rolls Down Hill" Well the same thing is true with a flock of hens and the pecking order.

The more assertive the Alpha hen is then "GENERALLY" the middle or bottom of the pecking order will make life difficult for any birds under them. This is one reason I prefer to remove any bird being oppressed rather than removing the oppressor. Failure to do so can lead to a game of musical bullies. An as was mentioned in the first post or two the more confidant hens often have others do the dirty work of enforcing order.