We had four chickens, two year old hens until this past July. There was bickering, splitting into pairs to forage, even mounting.
End of July, we lost our 'alpha', a Rhode Island Red named Barbie Q rather suddenly, and unknown cause. (We think stroke or ennuerysm). Since her passing, the other three hens have been..............really peaceful.
I expected without an alpha-top of the heap- they would bicker and settle on a new one. But no. All three stick together for the most part, and I very rarely see anyone go after one another. Do you think because there are only three hens in my 'flock' now, that they decided a pecking order wasn't worth it?
Barbie was sweet but very bossy to the others, always pecking or charging them to show she was in charge. No one has stepped in to fill her position so it's been a quiet summer. Not bad at all, I just thought it was a little odd and wanted to see if it was normal?
We are considering adding another 3-4 chicks to our flock next spring ( I'm thinking Columbian Wynadotes or Black Australorps and two Amerucanas or Easter Eggers.) Will be interesting to see if it kicks in with more hens.
End of July, we lost our 'alpha', a Rhode Island Red named Barbie Q rather suddenly, and unknown cause. (We think stroke or ennuerysm). Since her passing, the other three hens have been..............really peaceful.
I expected without an alpha-top of the heap- they would bicker and settle on a new one. But no. All three stick together for the most part, and I very rarely see anyone go after one another. Do you think because there are only three hens in my 'flock' now, that they decided a pecking order wasn't worth it?
Barbie was sweet but very bossy to the others, always pecking or charging them to show she was in charge. No one has stepped in to fill her position so it's been a quiet summer. Not bad at all, I just thought it was a little odd and wanted to see if it was normal?
We are considering adding another 3-4 chicks to our flock next spring ( I'm thinking Columbian Wynadotes or Black Australorps and two Amerucanas or Easter Eggers.) Will be interesting to see if it kicks in with more hens.
