Most evenings, one or more of our neighbors stop in to watch the chickens. By now, a clear pecking order has been established (among the chickens, not the neighbors). But it's a complicated order, not a straight hierarchy, as I would have imagined. Instead, it's more like a company organizational chart. Clearly, Stevie is at the helm. He established his place as COO early on, in the brooder, and has maintained his position with very little effort.
And, like the human world, his good looks no doubt aided his meteoric rise.
After Stevie comes a complicated web of power. Actually, layers might be a better term, and a more relevant term as that's what most of these birds are. Each group of breeds has their own set of rules, and each bird interacts differently with the outside breeds. For example, Ruthie, the black crested white Polish, is very powerful outside her breed. Her stature when confronting a large rhode island red, almost twice her size, speaks volumes about her power.
But within her breed, her position is mixed. She may get picked on by Annabeth unless Stevie steps in.
In this picture, Annabeth is trailing Ruthie, with Stevie in the foreground. If Ruthie complains about the white chicken's proximity, Stevie will step in.
Amy is outside the organizational chart, possibly a consultant. No one picks on her. In fact, she often has her head down, looking for something to eat.
She is the most indecisive bird in the flock. We often pick her up when she first exits the pop door in the morning. Otherwise she will stand on the platform slightly confused. The other night, for some reason, she did not get on the roost with the other birds.
I picked her up and put her with the other birds, but she hopped back down and took a spot on the nest bar. The next night I found her up again with the other chicks.
Two nights ago, the some of the birds settled on the roosting branch we have for them in the run. We often wondered about the second bird in from the right - named Hecate. The bird was late to feather and had a rosy comb. Turns out Hecate is a rooster. He crowed a slightly weaker sound than Stevie's.
We renamed Hecate, Morpheus. He poses no threat to Stevie. In the organizational chart, he resembles the pointy haired boss in the Dilbert cartoon. He continually tries to boss the other girls around with no success. Although given authority by nature, he has no support from the flock. He is clearly in management.
Anne at Echo Mountain View Road chickens
