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Pecking order. does this affect who goes to bed/gets up 1st?

Does pecking order have anything to do with who gets up/ goes to bed first  

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  1. 1. Does pecking order have anything to do with who gets up/ goes to bed first

    • yes
      10
    • no
      11


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Hi - I'm a new to chickens (had them a couple of weeks)

My son loves letting them out in the morning from the cube and seeing who gets up first/ last, then watching at dusk to see who goes to bed first/ last. We've been keeping a tally to help him with his maths and it's always the same chicken (Serafina) who gets up and goes to bed first and normally Dave who is last.

Does this normally indicate where in the pecking order they are or does it make no difference.

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Its all changeable with mine, alghout the more outgoing ones tend to pocke their heads out first.

 

Although in the abscence of a Rooster the dominant hen will often take its place and even attampt to crow, so they then look out for the other girls and keep them in line etc, so this might explain who you have one that gets them all up and is last to bed, does she make any 'crowing' attempts?

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I am totally unaware of any boss chook with my three. They all seem

equal, they go everywhere together, as I type they are all sunbathing in

the same dust bath hollow they dug earlier. I suppose if I were a really experienced chicken keeper I might see subtle signs of a pecking order, but

it all looks pretty peaceful to me, never seen any of them peck or boss one

of the others. I am not usually aware of them going to bed, and in the morning it is just one mad rush to get out and at the food :)

 

Tessa

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Our 2 white chickens usually go to bed first and in the warmer weather when their door was open 24/7 the white ones would sometimes get up for a midnight snack.

 

The Pepperpot who is top of the pecking order we call mother hen and she won't go to bed until all the others are in the eglu. She does her best to round up any stagglers :D

 

They all tumble out in a jumble of feathers in a morning and it is hard to say who came out first, then it is race to the grub where pecking order definately counts :lol:

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There are quite a few people on here who's chooks always go in the same order - I remember reading a post in August/September sometime...

 

The pecking order fascinates me and when I first got them mine too would go up and down in a strict order...

 

A few months on and there are some that go to bed early, some dirty stopouts, :roll: they all rush out together in the morning and no sign of one trying to be dominant over the others :?

 

But the three that have started laying have different personalities now, so maybe I will be able to tell more when the others start laying.

 

Helen :D

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I am totally unaware of any boss chook with my three. They all seem

equal, they go everywhere together, as I type they are all sunbathing in

the same dust bath hollow they dug earlier. I suppose if I were a really experienced chicken keeper I might see subtle signs of a pecking order, but

it all looks pretty peaceful to me, never seen any of them peck or boss one

of the others. I am not usually aware of them going to bed, and in the morning it is just one mad rush to get out and at the food :)

 

Tessa

 

Same here! Although they all occasionally square up to each other and fluff up their necks no-one seems to be the winner :) The only thing I have noticed is that Molly is always last to go to bed.

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My two little pekins come out like bullets down for breakfast and then the 2 polands after they have had a lie in :)

 

The two littlluns are always last to bed also and they like to get right in between the others to make sure they are warm. Funny though as Helen always sleeps facing the door but the others sleep facing the back - shes a strange one :!:

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My top two hens and the chicks are always in bed first. Then the others with Paxo being in and out and in and out until all but Bisto are in bed. Bisto is the lowest ranked hen (and the noisiest) and she likes to have a mooch around when allthe others are in bed just in case they have overlooked anything worth eating.

 

In the morning it is a tumble out and into the food. They come out three by three.

 

The two top hens and chicks have been sleeping in the nest box but now I am locking them in at night I push them though into the roost even though I get sworn at for my efforts.

 

Helen in Hume

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Interesting thread! I've never noticed but i will pay more attention tomorrow morning at 7am when I let them out. Daffodil is definitely top chook amongst my two, she's got bigger, redder comb, wattles and ears, she's much more vocal and she's the one who stands up to the dog!

 

I love all this chook anthropology stuff -whatever the correct term for that would be!! (Can you tell I've been at the wine?)

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It all depends who's laid already and who hasn't - some mornings they're all out of the door in a rush, and others (like today) Ginger and Spice are out, but Pepper was left behind sitting on the nest.......I don't have a good view of the door as we have a shade protecting it - and I have absolutely no idea who goes to bed first! :?

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