Do chickens know their breed?

[TeaChick]

I have a mixed flock of 7 six week old chicks.  All are pairs except my EE whose buddy didn't survive the trip via USPS.  I have 2 RIRs, 2BRs, 2 Anconas and 1 EE.  We've noticed that while they have always been together the like breeds stick together.  My EE is the odd ball and the most skiddish and independent, so she seems okay with not having a buddy.  The others though tend to stick really close together, sleeping and eating as pairs (for the most part).  I find this rather fascinating, so I am wondering if they recognize their own breed and how that is. All of my girls are the same age and roughly the same size.  Obviously they differ in color, but even my BRs and Anconas have similar coloring and they know who their partner is.

I have 10: 4 RIRs, 5 white (in told probably white leghorns), and 1 bantam Cochin frizzle. They mostly seem to mix, I almost never see the reds on their own and the whites on their own and there are usually one of each hanging out with (looking after) Snoodle (my frizzle).
That's another thing, they seem to all look out for each other. If one starts peeping loudly/distressedly, several (if mot all) will come running, esp if the one yelling is Snoodle.

 

[adgcountrygirl]

I noticed this mostly with the 2 Barred Rocks I adopted. I named them Rocky and Bullwinkle. Bullwinkle is a hen, and Rocky was a rooster. When I had to treat Bullwinkle for a foot injury, anytime I needed to put her back on the roost and get her to stay there, all I had to do was grab Rocky and put him beside her. She would settle down and stay put on that roost for the rest of the night. The day that Rocky died (he got out of the yard and a dog grabbed him) Bullwinkle got on top of the coop when it was time to go to roost, and she ran back and forth across the top looking all over the yard for him and calling for him in a panicked voice that I have never heard before or since. She knew he was gone, and she has been a loner since. She will get out of the yard and roam the back fence on her own. She rarely accepts the dominant male unless he catches her unaware. And she is the most aggressive when being handled. As unfriendly as she is towards me, I have a really soft spot for her, because I know to this day she misses her buddy, and she lost him over a year ago!

 

[8machines]

...

I have all the same breed, Jersey Giants, but they're all different colors. I have white splashes, blues and blacks. The two blues, a hen and roo stay together all the time. But I think that is because they got shunned by the mama hen when they were 3 weeks old and she started pecking them and trying to kill them, so they stayed together all the time. They're all brothers and sisters and 4 months old. They've been together their whole lives. 
But I have noticed that when they roost at night, the whites stay together, then the blacks and then the blues. So its like a rainbow on the roosting bar at night. LOL

I've noticed different things with them though. The blues stay together a lot of the time, but the blacks and whites mix together. But I've noticed that if one white lays down the other whites will lay down near the first one. The only blacks I have are a rooster and the big mama hen, but the mama is a meany and pecks all of them. 

So I think it would be color more than anything. But do they see actual color or just lighter and darker shades? So maybe they just see a shade of chicken that is a close match themselves and they go hangout with them. 
[/quote. that is so cool that you have all Jersey Giants. I have only 2 black at 2 months and they are my least friendliest. I did try to hold them as chicks. Do they get more friendly as they grow? Thank you. I don't know a lot about them except they are big!

 

[thefluffyflock]

I have noticed that. My game hens sleep on one roost, ameracaunas on one, and RIRs on one. I have another coop where there are 4 different hens of different breeds who love each other and don't let anyone else in their coop!

 

[FowlTerritory]

I have one flock of about 30 comprised 7 different breeds that free ranges, the others are in tractors. In this flock it is mainly the Australorps that really stick together, and they are the group I have the most trouble getting in at night. Rascal birds, lol.

 

[cjwaldon]

Not staged - these chicks were two days old when I noticed this. It struck me as very odd so I snapped the pictures. They were all hatched together.


bantam Sicilian Buttercups


Gold Campines


Arkansas Blue


Blue Isbars



And why I took the pictures.

 

[Odd Critter]

I recently purchased an adult flock from a poor sweet lady suffering from divorce. She had quite a collection. The answer is .Yup they sure do. The Americanas/ Araucanas roost high up as a breed. the Cochins and Silkies don't. Its my feeling that this causes them to become familiar with their roost mates. I have observed "clumps" of breeds in my barn often. To take it a step further, the new Orpington chicks I recently purchased follow their big Orpington sister all over the yard. They all sing different songs too. The Orpingtons are my sweet good night singers. The rest seem to coo just a bit..

 

[ChickNhood]

I think chickens have sence of not neccesarily racism to them but diffinately discriminate towards birds that look, soind , or appear diffrent fromthemselves... Birds of a feayher will always flock together

 

[Lisa Glasgow]

ok now i feel bad that we have 6 chickens and not one of them is a 'pair'

poor little chickens....

 

[ChickenLady89]

I know this is off subject but I'm not getting a reply anywhere else...does anyone know what breed this lil guy is? She's either Golden Laced Wyandotte, Rhode Island Red, or Araucana, leaning away from RIR because of the stripes.