Normal Pecking Order Behavior?

[TinaRew]

Hey all, was hoping you more seasoned chicken owners could help. I have 4 hens and my biggest girl is a Lavendar Ameraucana and clearly seems the top of the pecking order (ironically she used to be the runt!). She seems like a bully (though she is a favorite and super sweet with us… so please don’t suggest she become dinner…). She’s always running at the other girls at full speed and you can see them challenge each other often. There are no wounds on anyone, so no major aggression causing injuries. Is this normal pecking order behavior that I just leave alone and let be?

Also… she’s massive compared to the other 3 which are 2 olive eggers and a welbar. We were convinced she’d be the smallest as she had such a delay in her growth as a baby chick… wondering for those that also have Lavendar ameraucana’s, if that’s normal too…

Thanks!

 

[deidreg]

All sounds normal. Pecking order varies too. Your big girl may move down and another move up. I see this in my small flock. Let them be as long as no one gets hurt. Good luck!

 

[sourland]

How old is she, and can you post a free standing profile picture of her?

 

[TinaRew]

How old is she, and can you post a free standing profile picture of her?

She’s 21 weeks.

 

[TinaRew]

How old is she, and can you post a free standing profile picture of her?

Another pic to help with scale - with my 9yr old

 

[My Three Chicks]

Could 'she' be a rooster? Looks like hackle and sickle feathers. May need others to weigh in here. But would help explain the size difference and aggression.

 

[aart]

It can be hard to tell with lavenders, they can have some funky feathering, but I'd say that is a cockerel.

 

[3KillerBs]

I think she could well be a he.

Put your hand or a piece of paper under the saddle feathers to get a really good look at their true shape.

Like this:

 

[TinaRew]

I think she could well be a he.

Put your hand or a piece of paper under the saddle feathers to get a really good look at their true shape.

Like this:

Am I looking for a specific type of feather in those saddle feathers?

 

[TinaRew]

It can be hard to tell with lavenders, they can have some funky feathering, but I'd say that is a cockerel.

I had originally worried she was a roo and reached out to the breeder that had figured out a way to sex them and he felt confident she’s a she. This was his explanation:

“It is impossible to sex lavender chicks, if they are purebred, with both
parents pure lavender. I have a line of cuckoo Ameraucanas, they have
the gene for sex-linked barring, similar to a barred rock, but are real
Ameraucanas (muffs, beards, blue eggs). I use those females with a
non-cuckoo male to make sexlinked chicks. Only the males are barred, the
females are pure lavender. I have been working on these for years and
finally got all the stock in place to make sexlinked Ameraucanas, as
well as sexlinked Olive Eggs (with a male marans instead of the Am). You
have one of the first chicks from this cross. Should it be a male, I
want to know about it and will take him back and refund your money, but
I am quite certain of the genetics, so that is why I offer the guarantee.

I think you can be pretty confident that is a female, though some
breeders might challenge that because this cross is not commonly done.
If they understand genetics and you pass this along to them, it will be
clear what I am doing.”

— I hope he’s right! I’d be devastated if she was a roo.