Adding to my so called "flock"

[kph615]

Ohk here's my situation. I had three chickens. Two of them turned out to be roosters and I rehomed them. Now my pullet (mixed breed) is lonely and I am looking to add to my "flock". I have looked up some information on two available breeds (The buff opringtons are very friendly while the barred rocks can be very bossy). What would be the smartest decision? I am not opposed to getting one of each. But don't know how well they would all do together. Or would it be smarter if I just got a buff orpington? Or just a barred rocks since I have no rooster? What's your experience? Let me know what you think!

 

[Ridgerunner]

It doesn’t matter. Each individual chicken has its own personality. They don’t read the manual so they don’t know how they are supposed to act. A Buff Orp might be friendly, but then it might not. A Barred Rock might be bossy, but then it might not. It depends on the individual personality. Plenty of people have Buff Orps that are dominant over Barred Rocks. I haven’t had Barred Rocks but I’ve had enough other breeds to see that it just doesn’t matter. Get whichever you want.

I do suggest you get at least two though to go with your one hen. That way, if something happens to one, you still have two so they can keep each other company.

I don’t know how big your coop and run is. If space is pretty small, you might have some integration issues. If you have lots of room, it should work out pretty well. Age makes a difference too. Try to get them about the same stage of maturity as your hen. A more mature chicken will outrank an immature chicken in the pecking order and can sometimes be a little brutal about enforcing her superior social status.

 

[exop]

This may be an odd suggestion, but if possible, try to get something that looks similar to your mixed breed hen. Chickens seem to have an awareness of "that bird is like me", and if your bird was, let's say, black, and you got two other birds which were white, there is a good chance the white ones would hang out together and treat your original hen like an outsider.

 

[exop]

Oops double post. Wish my browser would stop doing that