Pecking Order
by Jared de la O
Pecking Order: How can I tell who is the "boss" in my group of eight chickens? I have 3 who are two weeks older then the others so I'm guessing it is one of these. There is only one that is the "meanie" and went after the youngsters (none of my chickens are adults yet). However the another chicken seems to be the ruler as she eats first and buts into the other chickens business. She picked a new chicken once but the other one actually attacked the the new chicken. Which chicken runs this gang? Answer: Generally the biggest, but not always. Whenever you mix ages and sizes you are putting the smaller/weaker at a huge disadvantage. This can lead to harassment, malnutrition, illness and death. Chickens aren't mean, though some are more aggressive than others, and some breeds are more prone to high levels of aggressiveness. All a chicken wants to do is survive. They make the best of what we offer them, but their territorial instincts can often lead to bullying, especially when new chickens come into their territory.
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