Hold on, I am not following. Free range have more disputes but feral flocks don't even have a pecking order? I can see fewer disputes in cooped up flocks - the same logic that people living in over-crowded islands (Brits, Japanese) develop highly ritualized ways of maintaining social order (like pecking order). So does that mean feral flocks and jungle fowl are at war all the time?
I'll take a chance. What I'll write is not by any means a popular viewpoint. There is plenty of evidence to back up what I write but it would take pages and hours to set it all out. Needless to say it's in the book.
Chickens are not flock creatures. Chickens are tribal and have been for thousands of years.
Given a choice, chickens will live with their own breed, or whatever looks and acts most similar, or those they are genetically related to.
(birds of a feather flock together while sounding a bit trite is accurate)
Jungle fowl live in small family groups comprising a rooster a hen and for a period of time, their offspring. The four main types of jungle fowl do not mix despite living in the same geographical area.
The range of each tribe can be anything from a couple of acres to five acres.
Jungle fowl are territorial and defend their territory against other tribes, often dying in the fight.
People with a lack of knowledge or an agenda will tell you the behaviour of their ancestors has been bred out of the modern chicken. The evidence suggests this isn't true. There are a number of studies that found, given the freedom, chickens will revert to their natural behaviour.
If you read a lot of posts here on BYC you will find a lot of anecdotal evidence where people will write their chickens tend to form breed groups withing a 'flock'. Usually this gets buried or not picked up on because it is not a popular view. Many people want different coloured eggs of a variety of breeds and what is good for the chicken gets overruled by what the keeper wants.
Of course, with chicken sites such as BYC part of the ethos is you can buy lots of pretty breeds and keep them all together.
Given the territory ranged by feral and jungle fowl the idea that a chicken can be content with ten square foot per bird is ludicrous. This is why many people where I live have free range flocks. They've been keeping chickens for hundreds of years.
My study/observations/experiments are about how 'domestic breeds, given the opportunity, return to their natural behaviour.
I'm in contact with a few other keepers who are also investigating this. Broadly we all see the same behaviour.
So, just like with humans, if you force chickens to live together with different breeds in close confinement, being intelligent creatures the survival of the group becomes important and they learn how to rub along. This is what the so called pecking order is.
Here each tribe makes use of an acre of home territory. If I add a tribe, then the used acreage increases.
The males here all fight each other. It's not about hens; it's about territory and resources.
Another much vaunted myth. Hens pick their roosters so there isn't much point in fighting over them. The winner doesn't get more hens.
There is lots and lots more.
