Pecking Order Madness

[The Angry Hen]

Okay, so I made this thread wondering... I was wondering what breeds of your chickens are at the top of pecking order and what are at the bottom. Here is my order, please mark them from top to bottom! For some of you who may wonder: The top of pecking order is the one who pecks, the bottom is the one who is pecked. Every flock develops a pecking order. Some owners may be lucky and get a flock that is best buds and very rarely pecks one another, but even in that situation there is always a pecking order. Lets start, mine:

1. The grouchiest breed at the top of my pecking order is probably Buff Brahma, my favorite breed. As much as I love them, they are not so good with other breeds of mine. They are the best of friend together, just not with other breeds.
2. The second grouchiest breed in the pecking order will have to be my G-L-W hen, she is quite the bully when it comes to being around my other breeds.
3. The third most grouchy is BA, the one hen of that breed is very docile and can be picked on, but the others I had of that breed were very aggressive and dominant.
4. This breed is more so independent, they are not really top, but they can be. These are the Speckled Sussex. Pecked on by my Brahma's, left alone by my SF hens.
5. BO. Precious and pretty, just a bit rough in tumble... Which suits why I like them!
6. New Hampshire red. Very sweet, just a bit dominant around others.

Those are not all my breeds, they are just the toppers of the pecking order. Here are the down low ones of the order:

1. Blue Cochin. Very sweet and can be pecked on, but is more dominant than the next.
   
2. Partridge Plymouth Rock. Can try to be a bit dominant at times, but very rarely. Mostly picked on if anything.

LAST OF ALL, the lowest in pecking order:

1. Salmon F's. Very sweet and clean the other's, can be a bit protective at times. Can try to me dominant but does not get that place.

Your turn now. List them if you want, if you don't want all you have to do is list one top breed and the lowest. And questions or concerns? Please PM me. Thank you!
Have a good day.

Sincerely,
-The Angry Hen

A breed can be listed in a magazine as the most docile breed on earth, you may buy one and it's the nastiest...

 

[driver]

1. California Grey, who is 6 years older than the rest, who are 4 months old.
2. Easter Egger
3. Golden Comet
4. Cuckoo Marans
5 & 6. Golden Laced Wyandote and Australorp. I'm not sure which one is the lowest.

 

[MagpieDucks]

Hey K!

Here's my pecking order arrangement, *I think*

Main Flock:
1.Buff Orpington-Virginia (And she's broody right now so she's extra grouchy. She's also the tiniest)
2. Golden Laced Wyandotte-Bronzy
3. Silver Laced Wyandotte-Dot
4. My Red Sex Links-Autumn, Henny Penny, Rosi and Pumpkin (in that order)
5. Buff Orpington-Buffy
6. Easter Egger Red Sex Link X-Summer

Small Flock:
1. Belgian Bearded Mille Fleur d'Uccle (bantam)-Muffin. Who again is broody and extra grouchy.
2. Speckled Sussex-Specky
3. Barred Rock Bantam-Cookie
4 California Whites-Snowball, Popcorn, Snow White the II and Daisy.

 

[Chickassan]

1. Hobo -Dominique came in and took over.
2. Negan -Faverolles rooster desperate to dominate Hobo.
3. Bea-Bea -Beaster egger "BO and Easter egger" was formerly big cheese.
4. Marlene -Delaware, Bea-Bea's partner in terror.
5. Susan - Ameraucana gets pecked alot but is still sneaky mean.
6. Tucks -Faverolles going to be bigger than everyone else and that's the only thing that's going to keep her semi unpecked.
7. Lulu- Faverolles big fluffy whiney baby going to be big but can't even bluff aggression, I will be protecting her forever.

 

[Sutremaine]

1. Perky, Vorwerk, about 29 months: Will sometimes peck on the other chickens for no apparent reason, but generally non-aggressive. She doesn't chase them around or disturb them 'just because'. She will jealously claim any stationary food item, such as a hung-up corn cob or something I've been holding still for more than a few seconds, but will share nicely if I present the treat to each chicken in turn.

2?. Winnie, Vorwerk, about 19 months: Kind of a weird chicken. She has the smallest build (just), and is last in line for the dustbath and regular food, but bring out the grapes and she'll literally wrestle them off Perky. Perky grumbles, but doesn't do anything. Winnie is the most human-friendly and talkative of the three. Since adulthood, I've never seen her peck the other two.

3?. Wumbus, Vorwerk, about 19 months: Was #2, but ripped off the entire nail of a middle toe and has drifted apart from the other two a little. (She has about 5mm of nail on the upper side of the toe now.) Seems to have lost her position simply through lack of maintenance. She used to be a lot smaller than Winnie, and was once pecked by her hard enough to leave a permanent 'dent' in her comb, but one day she kicked the crap out of Winnie and that was that. She has the largest frame, and is quite wary of humans. You can feed her by hand, but you can't pick her up. She has pecked Winnie off the food bowl a few times.

They all weigh in the region of 4lb 8oz. Perky is from the breeder's Trio 1 and the other two are from either Trio 1 or Trio 2, so at least two of them share at least a father.

 

[Trish1974]

One of my BAs is at the top of the pecking order, but she isn't MEAN about it. Now my Golden Comet; she is a MEAN BULLY! She falls next in the pecking order. My two EEs are at the bottom, however they were not part of the original flock. They were added in May. As for the others, I can't really tell where they are on the totem pole. But my BO, Goldie (in my avatar) is just the sweetest thing ever!

 

[Top Rooster]

I'd have to say the red sexlinks are the most aggressive in my flock and my SLW. My sexlinks will go after anyone for no reason and oddly especially if their broody it annoys them and they'll chase any broody around if their off the nest. Also in 3rd place of bossyness is my Ancona she is nice when their out in their pen but when it comes to roosting or nesting she's the worst if anyone tries to roost on her roost she'll peck them until they fall off, unless it's someone above her in the pecking order, when hens nest she'll peck hens in their nest till they flee from it. She's quite the jerk but I've never seen her peck anyhen much outside of the coop. And my least dominant breeds are the leghorns brown or white, they just don't have it in them to be leader they'd rather be followers they usually get pecked on a lot.

 

[Top Rooster]

Here's a list of my flock top to bottom
1. Goldie a BO hen, only at the top because she's older than everyone else
2. Charcoal a Black sexlink hen.
3. Star dust a red sexlink hen, I name 3 and 4 Indian names I don't really remember why.
4. Sacagewea a red sexlink hen.
5. Oreo an Ancona hen
6. Muffin a SLW hen.
7. Butters a Brown Leghorn hen
8. Pepper a black sexlink hen.
9. Miss Red a NHR hen.
10. Sweet heart a White Leghorn hen.
11. Unnamed young RIR Rooster
12. Unnamed young BA hen
13. Unnamed Black sexlink hen
14. Unnamed RIR mix with Aruacana mix with brahma hen.

 

[The Angry Hen]

Here's a list of my flock top to bottom
1. Goldie a BO hen, only at the top because she's older than everyone else
2. Charcoal a Black sexlink hen.
3. Star dust a red sexlink hen, I name 3 and 4 Indian names I don't really remember why.
4. Sacagewea a red sexlink hen.
5. Oreo an Ancona hen
6. Muffin a SLW hen.
7. Butters a Brown Leghorn hen
8. Pepper a black sexlink hen.
9. Miss Red a NHR hen.
10. Sweet heart a White Leghorn hen.
11. Unnamed young RIR Rooster
12. Unnamed young BA hen
13. Unnamed Black sexlink hen
14. Unnamed RIR mix with Aruacana mix with brahma hen.

Very good list. I love the names by the way, ha ha, they are awesome names. Thank you for the order, I can see the Sex-link's look more prone to being dominant.

-Kaitlyn

 

[azygous]

Instead of the 'pecking order", it would be more accurate if we referred to the structure that produces chicken behavior as the "social order". There exist some flocks where individuals don't show much aggression toward one another for the simple reason individuals happen to be in agreement as to their rank in relation to all the other individuals.

Breed is only one factor influencing behavior. Individual temperaments, apart from breed, play an important role in aggression. There are timid and assertive personalities in chicken world just as there are in the world of humans.

Environment also plays a large role in influencing individual behavior. For example, chickens confined to a small space will experience over-crowding stress and may be much more apt to resort to aggression.

Age of the chickens in relationship to one another also plays a big role in aggression, pullets near and beyond point of lay being much more aggressive toward chicks than older individuals. Older individuals are more secure in their rank and show less aggression towards younger members overall.

So, simply taking a survey of breeds and how aggressive they are is but a starting point in unraveling all the reasons for aggression.