Relationships and Pecking order

Recently there has been the usual surge of hormones that comes with the start of egg laying and it always causes spats to take place.

Dandelion picks her battles carefully but Cinnamon does not. Cinnamon was over confident and rushed around picking fights with all the amigos. They cottoned on to her game and started retaliating two at a time. Two amigos would fight back together and corner Cinnamon until she had to back down.

This has really knocked her confidence and she has since taken to hanging back away from the flock. It has been really hard to see our confident little girl suddenly become nervous and hanging back from the treats.

If only she hadn’t kept pushing her luck I feel sure she would have maintained her joint top serama position. Now with her obvious loss of confidence all of the amigos have taken to chasing her away.

Dandelion on the other hand picked just a few fights and therefore came off better. She has maintained her top serama position.

A few days ago Dandelion had a spat with Smoke who is top amigo. The pair of them were really going for it when Ebony spotted them. Ebony ran over and broke it up once again. She had three attempts before she separated them and then grabbed Smoke by the wing as if admonishing her. When it was all over Ebony returned to scratching in the soil as if nothing had ever happened.

Dandelion kept her top position. It’s a pity Ebony hadn’t been around when Cinnamon was picking fights all over the place.

One thing that is certain though is that Dandelion and Cinnamon remain firm friends. They dust bath together and sit together whether in the sun or the shelter. I have also noticed that Cinnamon sticks close to Speckles when in the run. She knows that Speckles will always protect her and will chase away the amigos.

There are strong relationships within the flock. The three bigger girls along with Dandelion and Cinnamon will often be grouped together almost like a flock within the flock. The two silky girls are also always together. The amigos are sometimes together and sometimes spread out but there are definitely three groups within the flock.

Cinnamon and Dandelion sitting in the sun

Dandelion and Cinnamon in the large shelter

I wonder if once Cinnamon starts laying again she will regain her confidence and her status. One thing that seems certain in the chicken world is that pecking order may change but friendships borne out of being together over time become lasting friendships. The girls that have been together longest or have come in together have strong bonds.