Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

I only see 3... but I can name them! Sydney on the right, Aurora in the middle, and Sansa at the back.

There is 1 more.

 

[Ribh]

There is 1 more.

I'm not sure...but is that Phyllis hiding back there?

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Quiz Time

There are 4 hens on this roost, can you name them?
View attachment 2254710

I can only see two and a half...

 

[Shadrach]

I feel I have done Maggie a disservice and now everyone thinks she is evil-incarnate. I know she is a bit intense but she is a lovely chatty friend who loves to hang out where ever I am.
I need to get some more peaceful shots of her to help correct the image. Though as I said, she is a bit intense!
I have still not figured out who is alpha hen. I have tried and tried studying their behavior - when they eat, when roosting etc. and I just cannot see that anyone is consistently at the top.
If I had to guess I would say it is Diana. But I am not at all sure.

I do the same with some of the hens here. As you write, they are not horrid all the time.
Knock from Tribe 3 is probably the most consistently unpleasant hen. It's just the way she is.

 

[Shadrach]

Quiz Time

There are 4 hens on this roost, can you name them?
View attachment 2254710

Can't see them let alone name them.

 

[Shadrach]

I work it out from who is not being pecked. Soda [my largest BR] is top girl. No~one messes with her. She rarely pecks anyone, doesn't always eat first, has been roosting on the lowest bar @ night but everyone defers to her. Her sister is 2nd in command. After that it's a bit of a muddle depending on whether it's food, roosting, dustbathing or prime outside roost & how badly each hen wants it. Morrigu can be quite stubborn about her dust bathing spot & refuses to move for anyone. Alpia is lower than Wrold when it comes to food. All the Campines are thieves. I have a general idea of where everyone is in the pecking order but it is flexible & sometimes surprises me.

I've mentioned before that from what I see here there is no obvious pecking order as some view it.
Different challenges and circumstances
I've never been fond of the term pecking order. I think it's a gross oversimplification of reality and once again it's the humans perception of the chicken as some stupid worthless piece of livestock that is largely responsible for it.
With Tribe 1 for example, Fat Bird is the most senior hen. It's not that she struts about bullying the others; they give way out of respect more then fear. She's an old lady now and has never been much of a scrapper.
What I see is a cooperative structure where each hen has a role. They manage to coexist with the minimum of conflict both within their tribes and regarding other tribes.
The males all fight. In general the fights are not serious as in non life threatening.
We could learn a lot about cooperative behavior from chickens. It seems to me they are noticeably better at it than we are.

 

[Ribh]

I've mentioned before that from what I see here there is no obvious pecking order as some view it.
Different challenges and circumstances
I've never been fond of the term pecking order. I think it's a gross oversimplification of reality and once again it's the humans perception of the chicken as some stupid worthless piece of livestock that is largely responsible for it.
With Tribe 1 for example, Fat Bird is the most senior hen. It's not that she struts about bullying the others; they give way out of respect more then fear. She's an old lady now and has never been much of a scrapper.
What I see is a cooperative structure where each hen has a role. They manage to coexist with the minimum of conflict both within their tribes and regarding other tribes.
The males all fight. In general the fights are not serious as in non life threatening.
We could learn a lot about cooperative behavior from chickens. It seems to me they are noticeably better at it than we are.

All of which is true but it is the term generally understood to refer to the inner dynamics of the flock. Language always has its limitations. I've mentioned before my flock is flexible & Top Hen is questionable as my senior BRs seem to work as a team to manage the flock. My BRs are my most senior hens & all that remains of my initial flock. They are responsible for the flock as a whole remaining very calm & easy going. I dunno, Shad. You need to get this book out & give us some better language!

 

[Shadrach]

All of which is true but it is the term generally understood to refer to the inner dynamics of the flock. Language always has its limitations. I've mentioned before my flock is flexible & Top Hen is questionable as my senior BRs seem to work as a team to manage the flock. My BRs are my most senior hens & all that remains of my initial flock. They are responsible for the flock as a whole remaining very calm & easy going. I dunno, Shad. You need to get this book out & give us some better language!

It's true that language has it's limitations. We do seem to be able to elevate peoples status by ascribing different words to jobs, social positions etc. It's usually a matter of perception and education.

 

[BY Bob]

I'm not sure...but is that Phyllis hiding back there?

It is not Phyllis. Phyllis was on the main roost. But you are on the right track.

 

[BY Bob]

It's true that language has it's limitations. We do seem to be able to elevate peoples status by ascribing different words to jobs, social positions etc. It's usually a matter of perception and education.

For all of that, there is a distinct hierarchy in my flock, especially when it comes to food. There is always some kind of a structure to every society and chickens are no different. I think to say that they decide to live the same everywhere is silly. Just as every human leader is different, so is every rooster or alpha hen. Some chicken flocks are likely less caught up in structure, status, and position than others. Even within my flock different hens feel differently about the order of things. Hattie views the rules differently than Sansa does.

My hens have decided to organize their society into a highly structured format. Positions are easily identified. My theory is this came from how my flock grew and the integration process. These hens did not all grow up together.

It started when I added Patsy and Lilly who did grow up together. They accepted Daisy, the greatest hen ever, as their alpha. Perhaps because this was her coop and that gave her seniority, maybe it was her sparkling personality. I can't be sure why but it was. Patsy strictly enforced Lilly's subservient position.

Since then each time I added to the flock they joined at the bottom. That would seem to be logical and respectful.

The only movements I have seen in hierarchy have come within the subgroups of the additions. Maleficent moving ahead of Aurora and Sydney moving ahead of Sansa and then back behind her. I believe that to a certain extent mine have developed a caste system. You may move around within your caste but not outside of it.

I am certain that other flocks have chosen a much looser organization. I would again theorize that is especially true of larger groups of the same breed that all grew up together. Every one of my hens is a different breed. This has been true since I added Patsy and Lilly. That must impact how they choise to organize their society.

I do believe that within certain parameters, chickens choose how they organize and relate to each other.