Rhode Island Red vs Astrolorp

[Luv my Hens]

Our Rhode Island Reds are bullying our Astrolorps. Wondering if anyone else has seen them as agressive.?

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

Our Rhode Island Reds are bullying our Astrolorps. Wondering if anyone else has seen them as agressive.?

yeah............. don't get me wrong, they can be great birds, but they can also be cannibalistic monsters. I once had a flock of 10 or so, along with an older Americana mix, 5 ish Barred Rocks, and 2 meat birds. I don't know what happened to the Americana, but it was probably old age. anyways, the Rhode Islands got a hold of her body and started eating it. I removed the corpse, but after that they were out for blood. we had to separate them from the larger, slower, and apparently tastier meat chickens, because the Rhode Islands kept ripping at their undersides and drinking their blood. so yeah. I have some in my flock now (not the mean ones, they were executed for their crimes), and I think because they grew up with other breeds, and are lower in the pecking order, and they have a rooster, that is why they are less violent than the ones before. HA! and Hoover's lists them as a "docile" breed!

 

[Luv my Hens]

What does your set up look like? How much space do they have?
I would not consider them a breed suitable for small or medium runs. They need to roam freely to burn off some of their energy

Run is large enough for many more hens. Outside of run is another play area , fenced on nice days too.
They got room.

 

[Grind Hard Farm]

I own some but don't see anything aggressive. Could you explain what's been going on?

 

[ShrekDawg]

I’ve heard from several people that they do tend to be aggressive, yes, but I’ve never owned them myself so I can’t say from experience. But I have heard that, yes.

 

[LaFleche]

Our Rhode Island Reds are bullying our Astrolorps. Wondering if anyone else has seen them as agressive.?

What does your set up look like? How much space do they have?
I would not consider them a breed suitable for small or medium runs. They need to roam freely to burn off some of their energy

 

[Luv my Hens]

Are they only picking on the younger ones or all of the Australorps? Chickens in general can be vicious to newcomers.

They mostly get on top of the younger ones, but have seen them go after the older ones too. They are certainly fed well enough, they are spoiled rotten!

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Rhode Island Reds are known to be an aggressive breed, with the Rhode Island Red Bantams being the opposite of that personality. How much room do you have where your chickens are? If the hens are being so aggressive that they are injuring the others, then they need to be separated to prevent any severe harm or killing.

 

[LaFleche]

Run is large enough for many more hens. Outside of run is another play area , fenced on nice days too.
They got room.

A good adult rooster would quickly put an end to the bullying.

 

[Australorpfamily]

We did a lot of reading that Australorp were more docile especially towards a more dominant RIR whom I read several stories of them being meaners(understatement) so we went with Australorps. They are the friendliest and the top with our mixed flock of dociles. ((And every Google page for any breed says 'docile by nature's lol))


Eta my cousin had RIR but that was all she had and they were fine together