Queen Bees and Wannabes

Hmmmmm...we may have a new pecking order in the lil' urban henhouse.

Jeff and I spent the cocktail hour yesterday (martini for him, San Pellegrino for me) being simultaneously entertained and grossed out by the ladies' worm-eating antics. Coco found a particularly good patch right at our feet and swallowed worm after worm whole. Ewwwwwww!

But wait! There's more! Lady Marmalade (our Buff Orpington) and Miss Buttons (our Barred Rock) got into several mini-scuffles, which more or less consisted of Buttons giving Marm a peck on her comb, after which Marm would stand stock still as if she was thinking "What is going ON here?" Then Marmalade would fluff up her feathers to look twice her size (for about five seconds until they deflated). Then they would go back to scratching around for choice nibbles until the next scuffle.

I assumed from early on that Marmalade was the Alpha Hen, and that Buttons was her burly Number One. (Meanwhile, Coco the Fastidious and Little Bob the Sweet Chicken operate in their own little clique.) Perhaps I was mistaken. Or maybe there's simply been a coup. It's like an episode of "Gossip Girl," only with eggs for breakfast.