No pecking order?

ChickenMamaC

Songster
5 Years
Jun 6, 2018
149
145
166
Rose Valley, WA
My chickens are 12 weeks. I THINK all pullets. So far, there’s no really clear pecking order. They nicely take turns eating etc. Different ones are first out if the coop every morning, though it sort of rotates between 4 of them.

They occasionally squabble, but it can be any two, it’s never just a specific two.

Do some flocks just get along without a clear top hen?
 
I don't really know. I am knew and only got chickens in June. I have 12 that are the same age as yours. In my little flock there is a pecking order. It is subtle, but there. I spend a lot of time with them. If I didn't I might not have noticed. I have never seen any real bickering, but there definitely is some that are always waiting for those higher up to get done with the food or the treats. And, my one special girl has given a few good pecks to anyone to comes near when I am holding her. She definitely won't let someone else sit with me while she is there! She also always has the top center roost spot.
 
For my flock, the pecking order wasn’t really fully apparent until around the time they started to lay eggs.

Sure, when they were younger some were more bold and some were more timid, and they would squabble and chest bump on occasion (hilarious to watch!). They were working on figuring out the pecking order through those behaviors.

I also have a rooster, which I didn’t realize until about 12 weeks. Not sure how much of a role he played in the hens establishing their order. He mostly let’s them sort through these things on their own, he’s sort of outside the pecking order. He’s in charge of the flock, but there is still a head hen too, then the rest fall in line. They are now a little over a year old and I definitely can tell everyone’s rank.
 

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