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Aggressive birds

A Review On: Rhode Island

Rhode Island

Rated # 9 in Chicken Breeds
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Price paid: $10.00
ChickenWisperer
By ChickenWisperer
Posted · 15 Views · 9 Comments

Pros: Great egglayers, nice to look at, human friendly

Cons: They like the taste of chicken

I will agree, the RIR and production red I owned were better layers than any other breed I've had to date. They were very friendly to me and were nice to look at, but they were the main proponent of aggression in my flock for over a year. I gave them multiple chances to correct behavior began to free range, gave them stimulation, but nothing worked. They killed 2 birds before I got rid of them and I'll never own another.

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9 Comments

aoxa 1/12/12 at 6:45pm
You really must have gotten bad stock..
ChickenWisperer 1/12/12 at 8:04pm
They were both from different stock. The second hen was from a show breeder... The first hen I thought was bad stock, but when I got the second one and had the same problem, I knew it was something else. I'm sure not all of them are as aggressive as the ones I had, but they are generally accepted to be a highly bird-aggressive breed, here in the US at least. In my opinion, due to sloppy breeding only for egg production.
Whittni 2/14/12 at 5:52am
Thids breed needs a lot of space, in the coup and out, how many birds did you have? Were they all healthy? an\d the coop size? roost space? rooster? How were they added to the flock? did they kill previously aggressive birds? etc.
ChickenWisperer 2/14/12 at 1:17pm
Yes, I know. The coop was 64 sq. feet of floor space, and probably about 200 sq. feet in the run. At during the time there was 6 hens and two older cockerels, they attacked my GLW rather severely and my Australorp. However they managed to defend themselves after that. I started giving enrichment and daily free ranging over our 2 acres, put in another feeder and waterer. The cockerels were rehomed, due to their size, and I added 7 older pullets to the flock via free range, which still had me at over 4 sq. feet per bird. Again, 4 of the docile pullets were attacked. I separated them for some time, let them heal up then re-introduced them. Again, they were attacked. I reprimanded the RIR quite severely and put them in isolation for a few days. After re-introduction, things went smoothly. The next day I walked out, and one of my EE's was dead and half eaten. A few days later, I walked out to see the RIR's attacking, viciously, my buff brahma - basically eating her alive. I was too late and she died that night. I got rid of them as fast as I could. Then I got rid of the GLW, SLW, and BSL because they were still aggressive - though they didn't kill any more birds. After that, everything went to normal. My birds were happy and all was swell, even when I again added more birds - 2, 2, 10, - until I have a final count of 12 after selling birds or loosing them to internal laying, foxes, and hawks or selling them due to aggressiveness. Even when I had more birds than I should have, even some sex links in the bunch, I never had any more severe attacks or deaths.
Darbi Karl 5/24/12 at 11:40am
we have 7 RIRs and are thinking of getting some Delawares, do you think they will attack the Delawares? Or will they get along fine?
aoxa 5/24/12 at 11:46am
Darbi - I find they have very similar personality traits.
ChickenWisperer 5/24/12 at 12:55pm
I agree with Aoxa - the Delaware I had was also rehomed due to aggressiveness with the docile breeds and was very similar in temperament. Very human friendly but very bird aggressive (and she was even raised with those same chicks that she was attacking!). I think they would get along fine and would be more than able to fend for themselves. If you are looking for a more exotic breed that can hold their own with the RIR/Delaware, you could also do Orloffs.
CochinBrahmaLover 8/7/12 at 5:48pm
Huh.. The RIRs we have are sweet as a bug...
mikeyb 2/8/13 at 12:03pm
Of the 8 RIR's I had there was one that was crazy from the first. Always pecking all the others. As she grew older she never mellowed and was culled. Life is too short for putting up with this.
There is always pecking going on, it is their social behavior.
My flock now consists of 1 BJG, 2 Eng Orp, and 6 RIR's. All are friendly and will eat from my hand.
My BJG doesn't like to be held but will tolerate it. (He's my Blue Roo)
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