3-week old chick bully

[harmonyp]

There is no doubt chickens recognize others that look like them. Out of 17, now around 12 week old chicks, I have two of many breeds, and often notice that like tends to hang with like.

 

[SillyMissLily]

And chickens are absolutely racist. I keep a small flock and only add to it by twos and threes. It's striking, if I have more than one of any colour, how the mille fleurs hang with the mille fleurs and the lavenders with the lavenders. The question is: how do they know what colour they themselves are?

Is this possibly because the chicks that were raised together stick together? So the mille fleurs that were brought up together don't really know what they themselves look like, they just know "these are my friends so I'm sticking with them!"?

 

[FowlWitch]

Is this possibly because the chicks that were raised together stick together? So the mille fleurs that were brought up together don't really know what they themselves look like, they just know "these are my friends so I'm sticking with them!"?

I think it can play a factor. I have about 4 different breeds in the brooder right now and they all pile up on top of each other to sleep. I think that, as they age, they'll probably bond as a flock.

 

[AuntieWeasel]

Is this possibly because the chicks that were raised together stick together? So the mille fleurs that were brought up together don't really know what they themselves look like, they just know "these are my friends so I'm sticking with them!"?

Oh, that absolutely happens. Everybody who hatches together seems to form a bond. But I don't usually buy the same colour at the same time. Hatch buddies and breed buddies are subtly different.