Understanding pecking order?

[docdubz]

I've been trying to figure my flock out for a while. There are 3 roos that are about the most dominant but there is no clear cut alpha roo. There is one that is the most dominant in many instances like with who gets first dibs on food. But then the other two are "in charge" with other things like not letting roos bother the hens. And I guess that makes sense to me but how the rest of the pecking order works is pretty confusing. The rest of the roos seem to constantly fluctuate on who is where in the pecking order. They are constantly trying to square off with each other and then earlier today I saw one fight a white rock pullet, and get his butt kicked.

Then I there is the runt of the group, a pullet bielefelder that's smaller than the white rocks. It seems like no one in the flock likes her. Not like she's getting attacked but none of them like her near them and then she goes running like a lunatic.

Lol.

Now for my question: are there any decent, not heavy on the reading, write ups on pecking order Dynamics?

 

[sourland]

The pecking order is constantly changing with birds trying to upgrade their position. How many roosters and how many hens in your flock ?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

The pecking order is constantly changing with birds trying to upgrade their position.

That is about the most concise and accurate desciption of flock dynamics I've ever read. Politics, too. Sour, it took my breath away.

 

[docdubz]

Too many roosters right now. 10 roosters, 5 pullets. They are 18 weeks now and none have laid yet, iirc bielefelders are basically chicks til they are 10 months old so there's that. I have another flock of 23 five week old chicks growing out right now, so far it looks like most of them are pullets, 6 definite roos, and about 3 or 4 that I am not sure of. They are going to start integrating with the main flock in the next week or two, right now I have them in a separate run 10 feet away from the main run.

Ultimately I am going to be separating the birds, I have bielefelders, white rocks, barred rocks and silver laced wyandottes. I want to get 4 flocks of 'general breed stock' going, one for each breed, and from them I want to select the best birds for some selective breeding experimentation, so that's why I'm trying to get a better understanding of flock dynamics.

 

[docdubz]

And, mainly, noticing that the roo that seems to be the most dominant, impressive bird only takes on certain jobs while the 2 others who are about the same as him in stature take other jobs struck me as extremely interesting. Especially how I have never seen the 'big guy' fight. I've seen him peck a small amount of times but the other two are the rowdy ones. The 'cool, yet dominant' demeanor of my main roo (who was my favorite since day one) is definitely something I would try to selectively breed for. He's also the only one from the flock that will let me pick him up without any fuss.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Now for my question: are there any decent, not heavy on the reading, write ups on pecking order Dynamics?

From your description.. sounds like you're talking about cockerels??

By the time roosters are of age and mature.. there won't be much antics like what you're seeing.. as the pecking order will be established more and hormones won't be changing as drastically.

There is one that is the most dominant in many instances like with who gets first dibs on food. But then the other two are "in charge" with other things like not letting roos bother the hens

I don't understand how many hens and roosters you have total.. when describing the two subordinate boys as having charge over other roosters not messing with hens.. And one treat calling.. That's just boys trying something different to stand out and earn mating rights.. Right now they're being tolerated.

So what we are talking about here is really.. human created dynamics. In nature, it's much different.

ETA:You are correct they do kinda take on different roles when more than one is allowed to stay.. they try to sneak mate usually.

I see more things are being posted as I type..

 

[docdubz]

Honestly the cockerel behavior is interesting to me, especially seeing as how the "bottom guys" seem to constantly fluctuate in position while the top three have always been at the top. What's even more interesting to me is that the top three are one of each breed, the barred rock is the one that seems to be the top and there are one white rock and one bielefelder that take turns policing the other cockerels. It's like the barred rock delegated them to be his right hand men.

But the behavior of the pullets is interesting too, one of them (a bielefelder) seems to be a lunatic that none of the flock likes except for the other bielefelder pullet.

Im constantly awestruck watching them. I'd go so far as to say that they have more personality than a lot of the people I meet, lol.

 

[Sally PB]

I'd go so far as to say that they have more personality than a lot of the people I meet, lol.

Oh yeah. I'd rather hang with the chickens than a lot of people I know.

 

[BoogieWight]

I really hope someone can come on here with a suggestion for good reading material on this. It ain't likely though, because of how many variables are involved. There is a huge variance in breeds/types. Fayoumi roosters (like ten) will no kidding hang out with each other all day with no quarrels, baiting, or the like. American games will fight at the drop of hat until well after they can't even stand. Then you have space and resources that can completely change the dynamics of the pecking order as well. Like with the game bird example, with unlimited space a group of game fowl raised with the flock without separation tend to actually create established zones that belong to different groups. They may even merge to roost in the same coop/tree at night with only the rare conflict.

 

[Mrs. K]

When keeping chickens, you strive to set it up, so that no pecking order is easily discernible and is rather fluid, that means your flock is at peace. A peaceful flock is healthier, better egg layers, and in my opinion settled. If you are readily seeing a pecking order, that indicates tension in the flock, and is not good. It almost always means that you do not have enough space for the birds that you have.

As you have two pens, I think I would separate the boys from the girls...pretty quickly. As you have several 5 week old chicks, I would add hideouts, and multiple feed stations and then add the chicks to the older birds. I have very good luck with one way gates, so that the chicks can escape if needed.

Cockerels, especially the number of cockerels you have compared to the pullets can develop some very bad habits at this stage of life, without older birds to keep them in line. Even with a multi-generational flock, I would not keep that many cockerels in with my laying hens. Without older birds, soon those boys will be making the few pullets pretty miserable. They are bigger and tend to become bullies, this later can lead to human aggression.

Once you get them in a bachelor pen, you will see some characteristics come forth.

Mrs K