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

[teach1rusl]

Quote:
I'm so glad to read this, because I STILL can't tell pecking order in my little flock of 5. But my girls are only about 9 weeks. HaHa! My little barred rock is my boldest too, and a PIG when it comes to stealing food from others, but I don't get the impression she is the leader??? Sometimes I think it might be my EE, who is my largest, but then I sometimes think she defers to my australorp...???? I think I get it, then it changes.

 

[BigSkyChickens]

#1 - Speckled Sussex, #2 - Buff Cochin, #3 - Blue Cochin, and #4 Blue Wyandotte.

 

[michickenwrangler]

Out of the hens, #1 Rosebud (big gal, big comb), #2 Brownie, #3 Nellie, #4 Amelia, #5 Blossom (was the runt of the brood), #6 Arrow (used to be #2 but was sent to go live with the neighbor for awhile as she was harrassing the rooster. When she came home she was at the bottom). Rooster Fred Fry seems to travel in his dominance, sometimes high, sometimes low. He's getting assertive with the hens now.

 

[Junkmanme]

"Mopsy", the pure-bred Buff Orpington (my best "broody" and best layer) is "Queen-of-the-Hill.

At the bottom of the bunch is one of my Black Sex-Links that "Mopsy" injured as a chick. Her name is "Face". Everybody gives "Face" a bad time.

(Face is a "survivor", however. Quick and Attentive.)

I have 2 American "Game-Hens". Nobody "messes" with them. All the other chickens pretty much ignore them. But, when a "Game-Hen" wants feed from a dish..the other hens leave the dish and let a "Game-Hen" eat alone. (which the Game-Hens seem to prefer)

Except for "Mopsy", the Buff Orpington "Queen", and the 2 Game-Hens, the rest are Black Sex-Links. (except for the offspring of "Mopsy", which are in a different Pen.)

"Mopsy" is a good chicken.........BUT, she is NOT to be "trifled with". She's BIG and about 1/2 MEAN. She stood up to a Young Rooster and He backed down !!!

The ONLY chicken that "controls" Mopsy is the Head Rooster, "Oro Blanco de Gallo". He does it with "Charm" and "Assumed Dignity". Nobody messes with "Oro Blanco". (He is a Red Sex-Link. I think probably a cross of Rhode Island/New Hampshire Red over a Plymouth Rock. He's a good-sized, very attractive Rooster.)

The Black Sex-Links (16 of 'em) are just starting to lay. They were hatched about June 1. (5 1/2 months old)

-Junkmanme-

 

[BarkerChickens]

My "original 6" are at the very top above the rest...including the roos!! The original 6 are 3 BRs and 3 EEs. The very top is an EE (apparently mine go against the grain with everyone else

).

1st: EE (Molly) She is BOSSY! In fact, she prefers to either sleep in the rafters ABOVE everyone or, if irritated with everyone "below" her, she will sleep in the old coop (at the back of the run and still accessible to the flock).

2nd-5th: shared by the 3 BRs and another EE (Gabby). It is hard to tell the real order here..they all seem pretty equal.

6th: EE (Pia). She is funny! She is 4 lbs and will take on the 12 lb JG roo (and he submisses to her!). She may be small, but no one (including the top 5, though she is below them) will pick on her! I was originally worried about the big roo since she is so tiny. Uh...not a problem!

7th: JG roo

8th-28th: JG hens, SF roo (though he is pretty low on the totem pole!), Delaware hens, Buckeye hens, Java hens, and Welsummer hens.

29th and 30th: Definitely by SF hens! They even get picked on by the younger Welsummer hens.

 

[gsim]

I have a flock of 24 and I can not tell who the alpha hen is. have seen hens from all 4 breeds that will stand their ground or run another one off over food at times. These things last only seconds and seem to be spread evenly throughout the flock. I have around 5 1/2 sq ft per chook in coop and around 80 sq ft per chook in the run (200 sq ft) That may play a part in it and they are all the same age and were all raised together. I do have one runt barred rock that limps. She always makes it up to the alpha roost by being in the hen house earliest of all and getting her place. She always hunkers down and droops her head and tail and just sits there while the others squawk and fuss prior to settling in for a few minutes. I have caught a buff comet pecking at her a couple of times and she was doing nothing but staying down. I smacked the buff off of the perch and let her figure out where to sleep in the dark. Haven't seen her do that anymore. I watch out for the runt, seeing that she cannot muscle and crowd in for treats, etc with her bad leg. I see to it that she gets all of them she can eat. I have a healthy happy flock so far, praise God.

 

[gsim]

Pls excuse typo. Run is 2000 sq ft.

 

[horsejody]

I have 2 pens. In one pen there is no obvious alpha. In the other pen the alpha is a duck. She is a rescue that lives with my chickens.