Black Sex Link chicken

Excellent description! Exactly true.

My BSLs are a lot like that, always singling themselves out for personal attention. They don't mix well with the other birds, and the roosters pick on them. Just think, if you bred your Dominique with an RIR or SS rooster, you could have more BSLs. I think you got a deal. I like these birds; they are quite productive, easy to sell, friendly and hardy. They are the work dogs of some of the organic farms that sell eggs around here.

Agreed. the BSL I bought at Jax is a good layer, good forager, and very durable. She is personable and friendlier than even my Sussex, and she doesn't pick on any other birds. She is smaller than my other LF and seems not prone to overeating; she is something of a self-confident loner.

ooh, I have one RSL

@Reamuskitty1 Cool! RSL's were our FIRST chicken (8 years ago) and I remember that they were the cutest things!

I have GSLs that just started laying and they're pretty nice, but I picked up some BSL chicks (on clearance!) about two months ago and they are by far one of the friendliest that I've had. Since almost the first day they have loved flying up to my hands for perching and petting...no "training" to it needed. So happy I added them to my flock.

I have had 9 BSLs in total. Currently have 5. They are reliable layers. Right now, however, I have one that has become broody. I was surprised, as I did not know they had that tendency. She's sitting on 7 eggs and this is probably day 4 or 5. I just had a Buff Orpington hatch out 5. So, soon I will be overwhelmed with mutt chickens.

From time to time I have had excessively aggressive hens, rooster and guinea roo in my flock. I admonish them verbally by name (which they probably don't really understand) and threaten to remove the offender. Then I get the dreaded net. I net and remove the offender who must wander around out side of the fence until night fall. The next day they are allowed to rejoin the flock. If they start up again, I remind them verbally about the net. Usually twice is all that is required and they are reformed. Thelma, my supposedly guinea hen, began attacking the laying hens. (turns out he is a roo). He is reformed and minds his own business even during treat time. And we are talking about a really stupid bird species. If they can learn, you can teach them anything.

You have to remember though silkies are a calmer more docile breed then most so they will more than likely be pecked and picked on with any other breed that is t very docile

That's horrible! Silkies are not really aggressive, so they tend to be at the bottom of the pecking order, and my Modern Game Bantam sometimes pecks them, but never actually attacks. That is really awful.

Thats so terrible! I have 3 BSL. They do tend to be more dominant. I have two silkies, but as Roada Red said silkies are more submissive and since they look different from other chickens they can get picked on. My silkies are the lowest in the pecking order but yesterday one of my silkies got mad at one of the (HUGE) Brahmas and attacked the Brahma. My brahma is higher in the pecking order so she got pretty angry but the silkie didn't back down until I grabbed my silkie before she hurt herself trying to fight a chicken 5 times her size. I'm sorry about your loss.

I am brand new and agree with everyone, especially Mosander. I think if you know theres a good chance and can rearrange the attitude with negative reinforcement, why not? If they were dogs being overly aggressive because of dominance, we would train. You can train by manipulating the environment, as Mosander did. Showing the chicken/dog that you the person are the dominant leader. Otherwise, how would chicken find herself on wrong side of fence, unhappy because she is not where she wants to be, seperated from the flock, and forced to quit the undesirable behavior she was engaging in?
I accidentally did the same the day we got baby chicks in the mail. One of the Cuckoo Marans ate, drank, rested, got up and proceeded to attempt to peck all nine of her sisters eyes! Not knowing chickens like to peck shiny things, I was horrified! And it was not a random peck or two here and there. She made the ROUNDS! When one chick avoided her she immediately started on her sisters. I tried the same thing, voice to correct her. Did not work. So I moved to gently using my hands. Blocking her and using my voice, throwing her off balance, etc. That did not work so confined her to another area. She could see sisters, talk to them, but thats all. I let her scream untill she piped down, about 2-3 hours. When I put her back, she never pecked anyone again. Of course she is only a month old now, but there was a significant change in behavior.
Now she does the dive bombing, chest fight, wing flapping fights, which they all do. But she is still dominant because she does it the most. Every day she will be handled and turned loose after she interacts with me and is quiet, and has manners.
So, while I dont know chicks, I am more than proficient with dogs. Since thats all I know, thats what I did.
Cant wait to read the new chicken traning section!
Lisa

I have no aggression issues in my coop. A pecking order yes, but no threat. When I have a naughty chicken I tuck it in one arm like football and pet the dog with my free hand. The dog is jealous of the chicken and nuzzles in close to sook up all the loving. The chicken poops a few extra times and learns I am alpha male and my dog is next in the pecking order.

My Black Sex Links have never harmed my Silkies. The BSLs were almost a year old when I got the Silkies. I had one baby chick grab another chick by the wing in my feather foot assortment. I picked it up and told it that kind of behavior was not allowed and it did not happen again.

I am so sorry about the Silkie Fox! That is the kind of thing that would make me crazier. I just wanted to say, even though we have enough animals 5 dogs, one cat one Gofin Cockatoo, and i have not been working for a while because of personal stuff, I thought every day about chickens for about six months. First I thought about goats, and switched to chickens. I have never known any chickens nor had an interest unless it was on my plate. But every day I would look at my back yard and see chickens. God told me to get chickens, snd He had to tell me more than once.
You guys on this list are so much more intetesting than general population. Learning what chickens you have and like, listening to you pet dogs with a chicken football under the arm, acknowledging how not intelligent they are! Now if it was a stupid person, I would be totally turned off. Stupid chickens I love, although my favs are the smart ones in my little flock. I will not get Black Sex Link in the future based on ya'lls reviews. Too many reports of edginess. Sharpness. I want them to like me and get along in the flock. I think I am pretty lucky so far, but I like my two Choc Orpingtons the most. I came real close to getting BSL from a local breeder, so I am glad I missed it.

@RareDuck I could not agree more. Chickens like most animals are very trainable. It is amazing how quick they learn. Never teach your dog anything and you end up with a misbehaved mess. Chickens are no different. There will always be a pecking order. It is very important to include yourself at the top of that order and I believe you need to physically handle your chickens to do this.

Do you have any other birds in your flock? we just lost 3 of our 5 birds (mixed flock). We want to replace with 2 reds and 2 blacks.

Not all B.S.L.s are aggressive. Sometimes its just the fact that maybe they weren't taken care of very well or were born with strange genes or something. My B.S.L. is one of the sweetest birds I own, and she is the oldest bird in my flock! The one that I lost to a hawk was very sweet too, so I'm not sure that I can agree with the fact that they are aggressive. Bigwig is right. Sometimes you don't understand how fragile your younger ones are, and you can always accidentally do something to them that they don't exactly appreciate. I hope that this comment is helpful to you. I just think that even the meanest breed can always be eligible to be nice and gentle. THANK YOU BIGWIG!