Who's the head of your pecking order?

[Solanacae]

Fuzzy. Given to us by a friend whose kids felt so badly that we had lost some chickens to a dog attack that they wanted to give us a couple of theirs. She’s some sort of Marans, but I have no idea from where. My friend had adopted her as a chick after a school hatching project. She lays nice dark eggs, and I love the green lights that show up in her feathers when the sun hits them.

I was really happy when Fuzzy integrated into the flock and took over the #1 spot because my speckled Sussex hen that had been at the top of the pecking order was a terrible leader. She had become the #1 by default when the original flock queen had died, but she liked to hop the run fence and wander around the yard, leaving the remaining hens behind. There was a lot of squabbling when she was gone. (Side note, I had tried clipping her wings but it didn’t do much to stop her escaping. She is fully grown now and much more sedate, but she had a lot of wanderlust her first year.) Once all the squabbling of integration was over, Fuzzy emerged flock queen and everyone is much happier, and the flock is very peaceful.

Fuzzy keeps everyone in line, and walks about the run in the most regal manner. Everyone moves away for her to go by and she rarely has to peck anyone. She’s queen of the compost pile and worm finder extraordinaire!

 

[Poultry Whisperer]

Fuzzy. Given to us by a friend whose kids felt so badly that we had lost some chickens to a dog attack that they wanted to give us a couple of theirs. She’s some sort of Marans, but I have no idea from where. My friend had adopted her as a chick after a school hatching project. She lays nice dark eggs, and I love the green lights that show up in her feathers when the sun hits them.

I was really happy when Fuzzy integrated into the flock and took over the #1 spot because my speckled Sussex hen that had been at the top of the pecking order was a terrible leader. She had become the #1 by default when the original flock queen had died, but she liked to hop the run fence and wander around the yard, leaving the remaining hens behind. There was a lot of squabbling when she was gone. (Side note, I had tried clipping her wings but it didn’t do much to stop her escaping. She is fully grown now and much more sedate, but she had a lot of wanderlust her first year.) Once all the squabbling of integration was over, Fuzzy emerged flock queen and everyone is much happier, and the flock is very peaceful.

Fuzzy keeps everyone in line, and walks about the run in the most regal manner. Everyone moves away for her to go by and she rarely has to peck anyone. She’s queen of the compost pile and worm finder extraordinaire!

School hatching project? That's cool! Most schools I know of just do butterflies or something to that extent.

Fuzzy looks like a Black Copper Maran to me! I had a Black Copper Maran ruling my flock at one point too, but she was the exact opposite of Fuzzy. Her name was Charcoal, and she was really mean. Not towards me, but towards the chickens. She would look for any excuse to peck her underlings, going after them for the most trivial of reasons. Ruled through fear. We sometimes called her Darth Vader. Her harsh behavior meant that she never really made any friends among the flock, aside from the older chickens she was raised with. They were of higher status than Charcoal was, but they passed away overtime due to natural causes, so that's how she took charge. As a result, by the time she passed, Charcoal was this miserable, old, and ultimately lonely chicken. The Ebenezer Scrooge of the chicken world I suppose, except without a redemption arc!

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Peeper rules the roost at my house. She's a small Mottled Java, four years old. Last spring, she got to hatch eggs for the first time! She was very happy. The only thing I was worried about was that she would step on or trip over her chicks, as she's very clumsy. She only stepped on them a few times, and didn't hurt them. No one messes with her, except the cranky Barnevelder, Baroness.

Are you talking about me?

 

[Solanacae]

School hatching project? That's cool! Most schools I know of just do butterflies or something to that extent.

Fuzzy looks like a Black Copper Maran to me! I had a Black Copper Maran ruling my flock at one point too, but she was the exact opposite of Fuzzy. Her name was Charcoal, and she was really mean. Not towards me, but towards the chickens. She would look for any excuse to peck her underlings, going after them for the most trivial of reasons. Ruled through fear. We sometimes called her Darth Vader. Her harsh behavior meant that she never really made any friends among the flock, aside from the older chickens she was raised with. They were of higher status than Charcoal was, but they passed away overtime due to natural causes, so that's how she took charge. As a result, by the time she passed, Charcoal was this miserable, old, and ultimately lonely chicken. The Ebenezer Scrooge of the chicken world I suppose, except without a redemption arc!

Fuzzy doesn’t have any gold in her hackles, so I doubt she a copper Marans, but she’s definitely a Marans! My best flock queens (in my albeit limited experience) have both been Marans. Neither has really loved people but they’ve kept the peace for my flock.

 

[The Dim Side]

It's a bit of a science haha. I'll ramble a bit for you:

Some chickens certainly do get pecked a lot, which as you said, means their probably towards the bottom and a common target. It's mainly about keeping track of who's pecking who, and who isn't. Who is getting pecked consistently by who? Who do you not see getting pecked by who? Also, chickens don't exactly like to be pecked, so they respond in two ways. They will usually run away (indicating that they respect the authority of the other chicken), or they will be stubborn in some way by either directly fighting back or holding their ground.

If there's a lot of fighting between certain chickens it usually means they're close in status and are trying to one up the other. Usually it takes a few fights for a chicken to claim victory, but that really depends. Some of my chickens have rivalries spanning years where they haven't quite figured out how to respect each other. But since your flock is quite peaceful, they've probably got their order figured out!

How did you raise your chickens? I've noticed that chickens raised together will stick with each other at first, but overtime differences will arise and they will divide. Some breeds get along very well with others like them, while others don't care as much and will bond with or hate anyone. Did you slowly build up your flock? If so, the older ones are probably in charge.

I don't have any experience with roosters, but given their protective nature, your rooster is probably in charge!

We got them all around the same time (6 one day, 6 the next day), and they're all about the same age, within a week or so of one another. They were about a week old roughly when we got them. We have 3 Leghorns, 3 Golden Comets (the youngest, only a few days old when we got them), 3 Easter Eggers, and 3 we-were-told-Barred-Rock-but-seem-to-be-Blue-Sex-Link-crosses-of-some-sort, lol. One of the Eggers ended up being a rooster, but it was unintentional.

And they live in a mobile coop with an electric fence and sometimes free-ranging in the evening. So maybe the extra space also lessens the need for territory/aggression? We did just move them into the barn for winter though, but they can still go outside, too. They're just less willing when the snow falls, haha.

It seems like one of the Eggers is at/near the bottom. She's a big but sweet girl, yet always more picked on. Then the Leghorns are probably down there since they're so small. They're the ones who get comb injuries mostly (I never witness them happening though). I think the Blues are the bossiest, and the other female Egger as well. My boyfriend says he's seen them kick out other hens from the nesting boxes, though I've just seen two in one box at a time, hahaha.

 

[Poultry Whisperer]

Fuzzy doesn’t have any gold in her hackles, so I doubt she a copper Marans, but she’s definitely a Marans! My best flock queens (in my albeit limited experience) have both been Marans. Neither has really loved people but they’ve kept the peace for my flock.

I mean, I've purchased several copper marans who've ended up with incredibly little copper. I got a Blue Copper Maran this year for example who has no copper at all except for this little spec on one of her neck feathers. I hope she gets more as she gets older, but she probably wont. Hatchery differences I suppose.

 

[Poultry Whisperer]

We got them all around the same time (6 one day, 6 the next day), and they're all about the same age, within a week or so of one another. They were about a week old roughly when we got them. We have 3 Leghorns, 3 Golden Comets (the youngest, only a few days old when we got them), 3 Easter Eggers, and 3 we-were-told-Barred-Rock-but-seem-to-be-Blue-Sex-Link-crosses-of-some-sort, lol. One of the Eggers ended up being a rooster, but it was unintentional.

And they live in a mobile coop with an electric fence and sometimes free-ranging in the evening. So maybe the extra space also lessens the need for territory/aggression? We did just move them into the barn for winter though, but they can still go outside, too. They're just less willing when the snow falls, haha.

It seems like one of the Eggers is at/near the bottom. She's a big but sweet girl, yet always more picked on. Then the Leghorns are probably down there since they're so small. They're the ones who get comb injuries mostly (I never witness them happening though). I think the Blues are the bossiest, and the other female Egger as well. My boyfriend says he's seen them kick out other hens from the nesting boxes, though I've just seen two in one box at a time, hahaha.

I don't think amount of space has anything to do with pecking order, except if they're stuck in their coop all day they will get cranky and stuff. I used to see a lot of fighting in the winter because none of my chickens would want to venture out in the snow, so they'd be stuck in the coop together and tensions would arise. My chickens have always been free-ranging though during the non-winter months of the year, but despite that, they still cause serious drama. My chickens have even fought several wars against my ducks, but that's quite a long story!

 

[Iluveggers]

Is it weird that no one has stepped up yet? I have 24…no one is laying yet either. They all seemingly get along really well!

 

[kurby22]

My hen Charlie the Black Laced (poor) red Wyandotte is definitely the top hen! Our rooster protects the flock, but even he gives her her space. She is beautiful and visits me daily, but no other chicken even bothers to be very near her. She’s not mean but she definitely reminds them all where she ranks! She’s my girl and so photogenic

 

[vantain]

Hang in there Gwyneth. You can do it!

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm pleased to say that Gwyneth seems to have overcome whatever was ailing her for the past two months. She suddenly got her appetite back, is pooping normally again, and pretty much acting her normal bossy self. Yay!