Pecking order- how long?

[Thancock760]

I am so confused by the pecking order thing. I mean, I get it. But I have so many questions. My (presumably) girls all still flap around, stare, chest bump, hop around with each other. They do this almost every time the come out of the coop. They are 9 weeks. Is this standard? I have no idea who is boss. I do have an idea who is on the bottom rung- but that is about it…..

 

[Swbertrand1]

I'm not an expert on pecking order, but we've raised enough birds to know that at 9 weeks, they're really just playing and growing up. The hormones are not yet anywhere close to full force, so what you're seeing probably shouldn't be of any concern unless one chick is being really aggressive toward another chick.

We sometimes see our chicks run towards each other, chest bump, stand straight up and stare down each other, and chase each other (that goes back and forth among chasers/chased) starting at about 2 weeks of age, but they usually grow out of that sort of play by about 3-4 months. Once they mature, we'll start to see more adult-type behaviors that involve pecking order, but much of that is learned from older birds as much as it is instinct.

In other words, if you've got a young flock in which ALL the birds grew up together, it's possible that you won't see much of the pecking order activities that come from integration of new flock members into an existing flock, a lower-rung hen challenging a higher-up for her spot, or even general nips and pecks to "let the other bird know" who is boss from your flock...

 

[Thancock760]

I'm not an expert on pecking order, but we've raised enough birds to know that at 9 weeks, they're really just playing and growing up. The hormones are not yet anywhere close to full force, so what you're seeing probably shouldn't be of any concern unless once chick is being really aggressive toward another chick.

We sometimes see our chicks run towards each other, chest bump, stand straight up and stare down each other, and chase each other (that goes back and forth among chasers/chased) starting at about 2 weeks of age, but they usually grow out of that sort of play by about 3-4 months. Once they mature, we'll start to see more adult-type behaviors that involve pecking order, but as much of that is learned from older birds as it is instinct.

In other words, if you've got a young flock in which ALL the birds grew up together, it's possible that you won't see much of the pecking order activities that come from integration of new flock members into an existing flock, a lower-rung hen challenging a higher-up for her spot, or even general nips and pecks to "let the other bird know" who is boss from your flock...

This sounds exactly like what they are doing