Any truth to keeping just one breed?

[sovia]

This past winter, I had some issues with feather picking in my flock. I have SS, EE, BA, BO, SLW, and a Delaware (all raised together from day-olds). Without going through all the details, what I ended up doing is throwing caution to the wind and have been allowing them to free range and things are going much better. In any case, my neighbor (who grew up on a ranch) swears that my problem is that I had more than one breed. She seems to think that they all need to look alike. Is there any truth to this?

 

[CarriBrown]

No way. It's safe to say that most of us have mixed flocks. Maybe the similar breeds would stick together if given the choice, but I personally have never had a problem.

 

[ChooksChick]

I have a mixed flock. Nothing of the kind occurs here- I'm guessing they were just bored.

 

[Picco]

The saying does have some truth to it but not much. A completely mixed flock will be fine, but if its a flock of mainly one breed/size with only a couple of others that are different problems can arise and a lot of picking on the minority breed/size can happen. If there is enough food and space there really shouldn't be any problems.

 

[RHewitt]

My flock is very mixed I like variety...no problems.

 

[Judy]

Different breeds do tend to have different personalities. But so do different individuals in any one breed. I agree that pecking and such has a lot more to do with space and boredom than breed. I also have a very mixed flock.

 

[MoodyChicken]

My birds are racist. They only hang with their own kind and it sometimes comes down to color (same breed, different color). I have one Wyandotte roo who refuses anything that isn't fluffy and round like a Wyandotte.

I had a flock of OEGB and one little Modern in that flock, she was always brutally picked on. But my birds are odd, they're definitely not the normal chicken. My layers are all different and they get along very well. It's my showbirds that are all racist.

 

[sovia]

Thanks to all your replies. It confirms what I thought - mixed breeds have nothing to do with it! I swear, the moment I let them out of their (huge) coop and run, everything became better. And, I have to admit, it would be so difficult to choose just one breed to stick with!

 

[digitS']

I don't think you got anywhere near a consensus on this issue.

The opportunity to free range is acting as a safety valve, as you say.

In my single-breed flocks, aggression has been almost non-existent. My mixed-breed flocks have not been all that peaceful, usually.

Next time, I'm thinking of going with mutts.

Steve

 

[cmom]

I have a single breed flock. Soon I will be getting more chicks and they will be a similar breed. They will be the same size as the birds I have now when they are full grown. Most of my friends who have chickens have mixed flocks. I think a lot of feather picking could be space and boredom. I have a fenced in yard for my birds adjacent to their run.