The pecking order is the order of rank. Literally, the chicken at the top of the pecking order can peck everyone. The next top chicken can peck everyone except the top chicken. And, so on. The highest rank chicken gets to eat first. The lowest rank gets to eat whatever is left over.
Hens and roosters both have their own pecking orders. Big Mama is the top hen. Snowy is our top rooster. Even though they live together, each gender has their own ranking system. With the hens' pecking order, the top hen gets to establish who eats first, who sleeps where (to a point), who gets to lay their eggs in boxes, and which roosters are preferred for breeding with them. They, also, break up many fights. The roosters' pecking order establishes who is the strongest. This leads to an order for crowing and breeding. The top rooster gets to breed more with his choice of hens. And, he will get to decide if another rooster is allowed to breed with certain hens. Even the babies have a pecking order. Usually, the top baby is the strongest and biggest. They get to eat first and they get to go underneath their mama first. The lowest ranked baby gets to eat last and is usually the one that doesn't get to go completely under mama. It's not as strongly established as with the grown chickens, and their order changes a lot as they grow. When they are establishing a pecking order, there are fights. There's rarely any injuries as a result of these skirmishes. At most, there may be a few scratches. But, they heal quickly. If there is plenty of room and perches to get up on, the losing chicken can get away. This ends the fight, for the moment, and may permanently end it if the loser has learned their place. Introducing a new chicken to the flock is a bad idea if you introduce only one or two at a time. This results in bullying. If there are several new members at one time, they'll be less likely bullied because everyone is checking out all of the new members, not just one or two. The chickens that are bullied are more likely to be seriously injured, which may lead to their death. Also, if they're bullied, they may not get to eat or drink because the flock doesn't accept them, so they won't let the "stranger" take their resources. A pecking order is a good thing. It helps keep peace and it helps keep the flock healthy. Without a pecking order, there would be chaos. Everyone would try to eat at the same time, there would be constant fights, and the flock would be more likely to be attacked from predators because no one would be watching for them. But, since there is a pecking order, everyone has their place and the designated guard keeps an eye out for predators. It can be amusing to watch the pecking order happen. However, it may seem a bit mean, but it's really not.
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Just two brothers
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April 2016
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