Pecking Order User Manual

1. Overview

Pecking Order is a local-first record-keeping app for poultry keepers and breeders. It brings chicken and duck profiles, egg collection, groups, breeding records, chick batches, genealogy, custom fields and pecking-order relationships together.

Core flock-management tools are free. Optional one-time packs, a permanent Breeder Unlock, a monthly subscription and limited event previews provide additional capacity or features.

This manual follows the current Android and iPhone app. Some controls may look slightly different on the two platforms, and optional features depend on your plan.

2. Getting started

1. Open Pecking Order.
2. On first use, name your flock (or keep Main Flock), acknowledge that records are stored on this device, then tap Create flock and continue.
3. On Flock, tap the Add bird icon in the top bar. Choose Chicken or Duck, enter a name and any details you know, then save.
4. Tap that bird in the list to open its profile. You can edit it later; you do not need to complete every field now.
5. Use the Record eggs card on Flock to add your first daily collection if you want to track eggs.
6. After you have entered records you care about, open Settings → Create & share backup and save the file outside the app.

3. Find your way around

The five tabs along the bottom of the app are:

4. My Flock

Flock → My Flock is where you manage individual chicken and duck records. Tap Add bird in the top bar to create a record, or tap an existing bird to open its profile and choose Edit Bird.

Use the Flock selector to show one flock or all flocks, then choose All, Chickens or Ducks. Sort birds by offers alphabetical, pecking order, egg colour, egg quantity, age and custom-field options. A pecking-order sort is only a useful list view of recorded observations; real dominance can include loops and cannot always be reduced to an exact first-to-last rank.

Bird profile details

A bird profile can include:

• Name
• Sex
• Record type
• Status
• Breed
• Egg colour
• Hatch date and age
• Notes
• Photo
• Custom field values, when custom fields are set up

Full bird records

A full bird record is for a chicken or duck that is part of your current or historical flock records. Full records count toward the allowance for that species.

Ancestor-only records

An ancestor-only record is for an external or historical bird that you want to include in genealogy without treating it as part of your living flock. For example, you might use this for a known parent, grandparent or purchased breeding-line bird.

Status

Bird status helps keep your flock list accurate while preserving useful history. Status options may include active, sold, rehomed, deceased or missing.

Custom fields

Open Settings → Custom Fields to name the extra details you want on chicken records, such as leg band or bloodline. The free plan has two fields; field packs or Breeder access increase the allowance.

5. Bird and egg photos

Photos help identify birds and make graph views easier to understand.

• Use Add photo when creating or editing a bird.
• Use Replace photo to update an existing photo.
• Use Remove to remove the photo from that bird profile.

One main bird photo is available on the free plan. Bird photos 2 and 3 and the egg photo require active Breeder access (permanent Unlock, monthly subscription or an event preview). If timed access ends, existing photos stay saved, but you cannot add or replace the extra photos until access returns.

New and replaced photos are copied into app storage when the record is saved, so they can be included in backups.

6. Egg collection and charts

Record a daily collection

1. On Flock, tap Record eggs.
2. Use Change date if you are entering an earlier collection.
3. Set the number of Chicken eggs and Duck eggs, then tap Add this collection to selected day. Each save updates that day's total.
4. For a correction, find the entry under Collection history and open its actions menu to Edit or Delete. Turn off Selected date only to see other dates.

Read the chart

Tap View egg statistics. Choose Day (last 30 days), Week (last 12 weeks) or Year (monthly totals), then choose Combined, Chicken or Duck. The latest bars appear on the right; scroll sideways for older dates. View graph as a list gives a text alternative. Days without a collection count as zero in the displayed averages.

Other egg observations

From an eligible bird's profile, Record individual egg observation records that bird's output for sorting and history. These observations do not add to the overall daily collection total. The Egg collection screen also offers observations by breed with active Breeder access. Saved breed observations remain visible if timed access ends, but adding new ones requires Breeder access.

In Settings, you can optionally turn on the Daily egg reminder and choose its time. Your phone must allow notifications for it to appear.

7. Groups and flock organisation

Open Flocks to create or rename a flock or create a quarantine group. Groups help organise birds in a way that matches how you actually manage them. A quarantine group is a location, not a life status.

Examples of groups include:

• Main flock
• Breeding pen
• Rooster group
• Grow-out group
• Quarantine group
• Sold or historical group

Lead hen

On Order, use Lead Bird to nominate a lead hen or bird for the selected group. The star marks this role on the map. It does not automatically create a dominance relationship or prove that the bird outranks every other bird.

8. Breeding records and chick batches

Pecking Order includes tools for recording breeding activity and chick outcomes. The Chick batches shortcut is in the top bar of Flock.

Breeding records

Use breeding records to keep notes about pairings, breeding plans, fertility, hatch results or other breeding details relevant to your flock.

Chick batches

Chick batches let you record a hatch or group of chicks before every chick becomes an individual chicken record.

A chick batch may be used to track:

• Batch name
• Known mother and father, where applicable
• Number of chicks
• Notes
• Outcomes such as mortality, rehoming, sale or another reduction

Converting chicks into individual records

When a chick becomes important enough to track individually, you can create a full chicken record from the batch. Known batch parents can be linked automatically into the family tree.

9. Family tree, ancestors and pedigree

Use the Tree tab to choose a chicken and see its parents and offspring. Full flock birds and ancestor-only records can both be linked; former and deceased birds remain part of the history.

Assigning parents

Open a chicken profile and choose Family Tree / Parents, or select a chicken on the Tree tab and choose Edit Parents. You can create an ancestor-only record when a known parent is not part of your own flock.

Ancestor-only records

Ancestor-only records are useful when a parent or grandparent is not part of your current flock but should still appear in genealogy.

Pedigree depth

The standard visual pedigree supports a useful hobby-level family tree. Breeder Unlock extends the interactive pedigree to more generations.

Share pedigree PDF

With Breeder access, open a chicken profile and use Share pedigree PDF to create a shareable profile with photo, details, parents and grandparents.

10. Pecking Order flock map

The Pecking Order area records observed relationships and displays them on a flock map. The map is based on what you record; it is not a calculated ranking of every bird.

Record what you have observed

1. Open Order and choose a group in View group.
2. Choose Shared order or Duck-only order.
3. Tap Add Relationship and choose the birds and the relationship you observed. Add further observations over time; you do not need to map every possible pair.
4. Tap the large Pecking Order button to see the complete flock map.

Dominance relationships

A dominance relationship records that one bird is dominant over another. These relationships are used to build the pecking-order graph.

Best friends

Best-friend links are separate from dominance. Matching coloured and lettered hearts identify friends on the map without changing the order; selected birds can show the direct connection.

Reading and arranging the map

All shows the complete recorded order. Arrows point from the dominant bird to the bird that yields. Where lines cross, a small bridge means a crossing, not a relationship. Tap a bird to highlight its direct relationships; tap its name above the map for a written list, or clear the selection to return to the complete view. Pinch to zoom and drag the background to pan.

Choose Arrange to move birds without changing relationships. Done saves their positions and Cancel discards the changes. The menu lets you switch between Auto layout and My layout without deleting your arrangement; the older Network layout remains available separately.

Observed loops

Sometimes real flocks do not form a straight hierarchy. When recorded dominance relationships circle back, a Loop button traces that cycle on the map without moving the birds. Loops may share birds. Select All to return to the complete map.

Snapshots

On Order, choose Save Snapshot to preserve a group's recorded order at a point in time. Open Snapshots to review them later. Snapshots are read-only, so later changes to live relationships do not rewrite an older snapshot.

Share and save graph images

Use the share or save controls to export a map image for records, comparison or social sharing. Larger flocks can be easier to inspect in the exported image than on a phone screen.

11. Backup and restore

A backup is a .peckingorder file containing your database and app-managed media. It can include bird records, chick batches, genealogy, egg records, order snapshots and game scores. Store purchases are tied to the store account and are restored separately.

Create and share backup

1. Open Settings.
2. Choose Create & share backup.
3. Use the share screen to save the backup somewhere safe, such as Files, Drive, email or another device. Check that you can find the saved file before relying on it.

Restore backup

1. Open Settings.
2. Choose Restore backup.
3. Select a valid .peckingorder backup file.
4. Read the replacement warning and confirm only if this is the backup you want.
5. Close and reopen Pecking Order after the restore notice appears.

Settings also has a backup and new-features reminder. It is on by default where notifications are allowed and repeats about every 30 days. Turning it off and on starts a new interval. It is only a reminder: the app does not create backups automatically.

12. Plans and purchases

Pecking Order includes a free Hobby plan, optional permanent purchases and time-limited Breeder access. Prices are shown by Google Play or the App Store for your store account and region before you buy.

Hobby plan

• Up to 6 full chicken records and 4 full duck records
• 2 custom bird fields
• Up to 25 ancestor-only records
• Hobby-level pedigree view

Flock Packs

Flock Packs are permanent one-time purchases that increase the full chicken and duck record allowances.

Custom Field Packs

• Custom Fields Pack 1: adds two more custom bird fields, for four in total.
• Custom Fields Pack 2: adds another two custom bird fields, for six in total.

Breeder Unlock

Breeder Unlock is a one-time purchase for users who want expanded breeder features.

Breeder Unlock includes:

• Unlimited chickens and ducks
• Unlimited custom fields
• Unlimited ancestor-only records
• Four-generation pedigree
• Shareable pedigree PDF
• Breeder CSV data export
• Extra bird and egg photos and detailed egg entries

Monthly Breeder Access

This auto-renewing subscription gives the same Breeder features while active. Manage or cancel renewal through the store that billed you. Cancelling renewal does not immediately remove access already paid for; the store determines its end date.

Event Breeder Preview

An event organiser may provide a single-use store code for a 30-day Breeder preview. Redeem it through Google Play or the App Store using Redeem event code on the Plans & Purchases screen. It ends without starting a paid subscription. Availability depends on the specific event's dates and region.

When timed Breeder access ends, existing flock data and extra photos remain saved, but adding or replacing content that requires Breeder access is restricted until you regain access. Keep regular backups of your records.

Restore purchases

Use Settings → Plans & Purchases → Restore purchases if you reinstall the app or move to another device using the same store account. A data backup restores records; the store restores eligible purchases. Purchases from one store are not transferred by the backup to the other store.

13. Keeping your records safe

Pecking Order is local-first: your flock database is primarily on this device, not automatically synced to another phone. Create regular backups and save them somewhere outside the app, such as cloud storage, email or another device.

App-managed bird photos can be included in backups. Older photos that still point to a gallery file may need that original file to be available; edit and save the bird record to migrate a reachable older photo before making a new backup.

14. Troubleshooting

I cannot see a purchase I made

Open Settings → Plans & Purchases and use Restore purchases. Make sure you are using the same Google Play or App Store account that made the purchase.

My backup is not useful if it is only on my phone

That is correct. After creating a backup, save it somewhere outside the app and outside the phone where possible.

My egg totals look higher or lower than the bird observations

Daily flock collections and individual bird observations are separate records. An individual observation helps sort birds and does not change the overall collection total. Edit the appropriate record in its own history.

Some older photos are missing from a backup

New and replaced photos are copied into app storage when saved. Very old gallery-linked photos may need the original file to still exist. Opening and saving the chicken record again may help migrate reachable older photos into app storage.

The pecking-order hierarchy does not look like a simple straight line

Real flock behaviour can be messy. If birds have circular or conflicting relationships, the app may show loops or network-style relationships rather than a simple top-to-bottom order.

I restored a backup and the app says to close and reopen

Close and reopen Pecking Order so the restored database is loaded cleanly.

15. Support

For support, email:

peckingsupport@gmail.com

When asking for help, include:

• Your device type and operating system version, if known
• What you were trying to do
• What happened instead
• Whether you have a recent backup