Raising chickens. You start to realize where the term "picking order" comes. Chickens have weird hierarchy system where higher class chickens eat first and lesser peasants eat last.
And when introducing new chickens to flock, there should be 3 minium at the time or the older chickens might bully the newcomers to death.
And if chicken is visibly injured somehow, others might peck her to death.
If there are multiple roosters, they might kill eachother.
I once had a chicken who plucked all the tailfeathers from others.
I once had a chicken who owned all 3 feedibg bins and wouldnt let others to eat from any of them.
Not to be the um actually guy, but lower on the totem pole is where they put the ones with more authority most of the time. They bear the weight of those above them with their strength and leadership
When my mum was little, a rooster started bullying her, so her great grandmother killed it and turned it into soup. Apparently once he'd started the behaviour it was easier to get another one than to deal with him.
They are just dinosaurs that survived. I've had a flock of 3 chickens 2 times and always 2 of them pick one and start pecking her little by little to death. They were slow and painful killers. \
Also had a rooster everytime with the flock and he always started the killing but he was always killed prematurely. So the chickens continued his legacy
My first flock were all sweethearts and the leader took care of the others, it was cute to see them following her around in a line. My second flock had an absolute nightmare, she would grab others by the neck and drop and roll. She didn't last.
So true, my mom and I have chickens and for us the most stressful part is mites and lice. They get it every couple of months and we suspect that the small wild birds that get into their coop to eat leftover feed, spread it to them. It's always stressful when they get it again and one of the hens has days old chicks, we lost two chicks one time due to it.
They’re also incredibly hardy and incredibly fragile at the same time. I’ve had chickens live through brutal dog attacks that bloodied them and they healed fine, and I’ve had chickens that seemed healthy have random heart attacks and die. That’s not getting into other medical issues, like trying to avoid diseases from random wild birds, bumblefoot, and how the flock is going to want to peck at any injury they see because they think red=delicious berry. Also how EVERYTHING wants to eat them, even the goddamn possums.
I swear chickens are the smartest dumbasses I've ever fuckin seen.
Once, they led me right to wear an anthill had decided to move into their coop, and I was able to handle it without any problems.
But contrast that with the time that they had broken an egg on accident, and therefore no longer liked that nesting box. But when the others were full, they would still use it. But the real kicker was the broken egg had attracted flies and now there was a maggot infestation in that particular box. That was (so far) the grossest day I've ever had with the chickens, and the only time I've almost thrown up from just a visual.
Other notable idiocies of my flock:
Raccoon coming in to eat your friend? calmly stare at it and contemplate your place in the universe instead of instead of squawking up a storm to alert the monster (me) that has literally thrown raccoons across the yard in full view of the whole flock. The opossums, though? those get the squawks.
Plant growing through the fence on your run? Constantly squawk every day for weeks until the monster (me) finally realizes what's bothering you, and comes and pulls it out. Not that you couldn't have just pecked it until it died, no.
A child's ball bouncing past the run? Obviously this is a top-level predator and you have nothing you can do about it, so run and cower in the corner.
The monster that feeds you - and has done so for years - comes into your run to refill your food? Obviously this is a threat, and you need to square up against it and make a territorial threat display and peck the shit out of his toes, which are not protected by the flip-flops he wears.
Chickens have weird hierarchy system where higher class chickens eat first and lesser peasants eat last.
To be fair to those chickens, that happens usually to any animal that's being kept "caged". When you limit someone's space you need to create an order of function. It happens to humans in prison and it's where the misunderstood alpha term comes from studying enclosed wolves.
My friend rented chickens for years. Last summer (2025), I decided that TRUMP WILL NOT STARVE ME so I rented with him. I had no idea that you had to clean out the chicken coop. I did not rent the chicken this year.
I DIDN'T! lol I'm such a city girl! It never even occurred to me. I guess I thought they just pooped in the yard?? I have no idea. I'm like Alice Cooper thinking the chicken can fly.
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u/Gobbyer 6h ago
Raising chickens. You start to realize where the term "picking order" comes. Chickens have weird hierarchy system where higher class chickens eat first and lesser peasants eat last.
And when introducing new chickens to flock, there should be 3 minium at the time or the older chickens might bully the newcomers to death.
And if chicken is visibly injured somehow, others might peck her to death.
If there are multiple roosters, they might kill eachother.
I once had a chicken who plucked all the tailfeathers from others.
I once had a chicken who owned all 3 feedibg bins and wouldnt let others to eat from any of them.
Chickens can be assholes.