In a mixed flock who is your alpha hen and who is on the bottom?

[chick4chix]

Hi Patman-

Six pullets all 30 weeks old
2 wyandotte's - golden laced and silver laced
4 EE's - all different colors

The GLW was the boss from day one and we actually thought she was a roo until the last minute- now she's laying
The Silver laced was in #2 position but now she shares #2 position with the golden laced who has been knocked out of top hen by an EE.
This particular EE is the loudest of the flock (she not only announces her own egg laying but everyone else's too and gossips loudly at anything else that needs telling)- the boldest of the flock (she charges out the gate when I open it and knocks food out of my hand til I learned to hold on tight)-and she is also the largest of the flock.
The last three are EE's as well with one very definitely on the bottom although she doesn't really get pecked all that much- she's too fast. We named her Sketcher because she is sketchy and runs away from everyone and everything looking very much like the end of the world is imminent.
For the most part they are a very peaceful flock- only an occasional fluffing of feathers or light peck- mostly they chortle and hum and cluck side by side looking for goodies in the run.

good Luck with your newbies- I will be adding new babes next spring ( I may even start them in the house this winter so they lay earlier in the year than these girls did) but first I want DH to build me a second ark and have the two flocks in adjoining runs but within their own flock and ark.

Keep us posted on your progress- also your ark renovation- If I remember, you were going to make the top all roost and add nest boxes to the bottom end?

 

[patman75]

Quote:
That is next springs project. Right now I'm trying to finish my winter coop. 1 more day and the coop is done and then its on to the run. Pictures to follow soon.

 

[cposz]

Ours has been:
Lucy (1.5 yr. old RSL)
Ruby (" " " )
Betty (7 mo. old BO)
Wilma ( " " " )

But we have noticed in recent days a bit of a power shift. We think that Betty might have just noticed that she is bigger and broader than Lucy - she took a treat out of Lucy's mouth the other day, and Lucy let her.

 

[hcammack]

Well I have been shifting and moving around allot but from what I can see today is my two black ameraucana pullets have come in a taken over the flock. My three young marans are at the bottom becasue they are smaller then the others and younger.

Henry

 

[Nyrial]

My "Big kid" flock:
For the Hens:
Black Australorp (Raven) is top dog. Followed by Snowball (white...something) Big Red (random red chicken) Buffy (New Hampshire Red) Little Peep (Silver Phoenix) 2 leghorns who don't seem to have enough personality to name them, and then my 2 EEs Cheetah and Smokey get beat on by everyone.

In the "Playboi Manshun" it goes Foghorn (Leghorn) Leghorn (Leghorn) Ned and Ted (Phoenix) and Little Red (Some kind of red chicken)

No idea in the baby pen yet.

 

[Tala]

Red sexlink boss lady, very cuddly with RIR roo as well and the white birds ignore her.

Leghorns below, because that's the only option at this point.

Should get more interesting when the black sexlinks and buffs (babies now) come into the main flock's pecking order.

 

[urban dreamer]

At first I only had two Barred Rocks, Zoii and Eva. Eva was the head hen until she had an accident that left her lame. Then Zoii took over. Since then, I've gotten two EEs. The hen house is in an uproar! In one coop, I've got Zoii and Eva fight over dominence (Eva is better now and has got her bite back) and in the other coop I have a one year old picking on a two month old pullet. In a month I will combine the two flocks. I have a theroy how the new pecking order will be:

#1 Eva (2 year old barred rock (she's one tough brid!))
#2 Zoii (2 year old barred rock (is gonna get beaten up by her sister))
#3 Gladys (one year old EE (kinda stuck in the middle))
#4 Poor Ginger (two month old EE pullet (quick little thing though!))

I love my little flock!

 

[superjules75]

Of my original 2 hens, the EE is on top. The other is a BO who is jockeying for #2 now that we have to new chickens. Due to her size, it appears the SLW will be on the bottom right below my BR.
I've noticed the one in charge doesn't really come off like she is because everyone just leaves her alone. The ones below her are the ones willing to pick on each other.

 

[BCMominMD]

Out of the 8 original flock: the White Rock is the boss hen and the bottom hen is an EE.

 

[Pampered Hen]

The pecking order in my girls has been in uproar this year. I introduced 6 youngsters to my one-year old hens this summer and a few weeks ago I took in another couple of pullets. However, Polly, the Barred Rock has been the undisputed Matriarch in all of this. Nobody dares to challenge her. Madame Silver, an EE used to be at the bottom of the older girls, but she has been asserting herself with the younger ones, but is being chased by the latest newcomers who in return get chases by the Speckled Sussexes who are the same age. At the moment the omega spot is taken by Daphne, a Golden Campine. She is quick and thrifty and carries herself high despite her ranking. As far as I can tell everybody else is somewhere in the mid-ranks and I have a feeling the final spots haven't been decided yet. This pecking order re-establishment seems take its time.