Pecking order question

[m1marin]

Hi everyone. We've been observing our 28 week old hens establish their pecking order lately. Once they started laying we noticed they became even more "food motivated". We saw something interesting happen around feeding time that we haven't heard about in any of the reading we've done. Their pecking order doesn't seem to be a linear hierarchy, but a circular order. Here's what I mean.

We have 3 hens. A, B, and C for the sake of ease.

A pecks B, B pecks C, C pecks A.

We can't determine who is actually at the top of the order. Is this common? Or is it more likely that there is a top hen and we haven't been able to notice it?

 

[junebuggena]

They are still young and sorting things out.

 

[aart]

Not every peck is part of the pecking order.

 

[HereChickyChickyOfTikTok]

Hi everyone. We've been observing our 28 week old hens establish their pecking order lately. Once they started laying we noticed they became even more "food motivated". We saw something interesting happen around feeding time that we haven't heard about in any of the reading we've done. Their pecking order doesn't seem to be a linear hierarchy, but a circular order. Here's what I mean.

We have 3 hens. A, B, and C for the sake of ease.

A pecks B, B pecks C, C pecks A.

We can't determine who is actually at the top of the order. Is this common? Or is it more likely that there is a top hen and we haven't been able to notice it?

I’m interested to know if your flock (mentioned above) always maintained it’s circular hierarchy. I have a 2-year old flock of 5 hens of all different breeds. They have been raised together since 2 weeks old and are all extremely tame. They also have a circular order but in the middle of the flock.

Number 1, the Dark Brahma, is the undisputed leader, even though she is relatively gentle with them.

Number 2 is the Buff Orpington. Number 3 is the Silver-Laced Wyandotte. Number 4 is the Easter Egger. And number 5 is the Rhode Island Red, who has never concerned herself one bit with flock politics though she does frequently get into trouble a lot with everyone.

The Easter Egger submits to the Wyandotte, who submits to the Orpington, who submits to the Easter Egger. It’s a sometimes-entertaining cycle that can lead to them endlessly taking over each other’s dust bath craters and sun bathing spots. The same thing happens when they try to eat from the feeders. They are silly girls and are usually not too vicious in their disputes but the bickering is fairly constant.

Has anyone else had a circular hierachy like this? It has worked fine for two years but the Easter Egger can be quite feisty at times, and every major fight in the flock has always involved her standing up to her superiors. Any thoughts?

 

[aart]

Has anyone else had a circular hierachy like this? It has worked fine for two years but the Easter Egger can be quite feisty at times, and every major fight in the flock has always involved her standing up to her superiors. Any thoughts?

Yep. the pecking order is fluid, it can change.

 

[HereChickyChickyOfTikTok]

Yep. the pecking order is fluid, it can change.

Yeah, i definitely know it’s fluid. I have a theory that pecking orders are simply the amalgamation of all of the individual one on one relationships within the flock. I didn’t mention in my last comment that the Brahma wasn’t always the leader. In fact, she was the runt of the flock when they were chicks. The Wyandotte was the original leader with the Easter Egger as her number two. But after the others stopped growing, the Brahma and the Orpington continued growing. When they were about six months old, there was a coup d’etat and those two moved up the ranks to the top two positions and the Wyandotte and Easter Egger moved down to 3 and 4. However, the Orpington overshot her initial dominance with the Easter Egger and pushed her a little too hard. So one day the feisty Easter Egger had had enough and stood up to her and won. That’s what created the unusual kink in our flock’s hierarchy. My real question was: How common is it to have a circular hierarchy in your flock? I would be interested to hear the stories about others’ circular hierarchies and if it has caused any major issues over time.

 

[aart]

My real question was: How common is it to have a circular hierarchy in your flock? I

Very common.