Earlier this summer I bought a bunch of two-month old chicklets, buff orpingtons and olive eggers (buff X easter egger/Ameraucana). They were all hatched and raised together as a single large clutch by the breeder and I likewise initially kept them together in a single large pen, as they learned about the fun of going outdoors, at first just in their run, then let loose to explore the back yard. I noticed early on that the buffs tended to hang together whereas the olive eggers spread out more and even interacted with the older chickens. Then the buffs appeared to start ostracizing one of their pullets-to-be, the smallest one. I was a touch concerned at first because all the other buffs by this point had begun growing explosively and broadening out, but the ostracized chicklet wasn't...she was staying smallish. A week later, I realized why. The shunned one's adult feathering started coming in and it was the wrong shade...another olive egger after all! She's now very obviously not the buff both myself and the breeder mistook her for at first and is now hanging with the other olive eggers and they've formed their own little flock. Meanwhile, the buffs, which turned out to be two cockerals and five pullets, are still very tight and are still actively driving away any of the olive eggers that try to join them...
This is the first time I've helped raise a clutch that included two different breeds, or more precisely, in this case, a pure breed and deliberate cross breds. I've watched a lot of broody-hen-raised clutches grow up in the past, always mixed-breeds, and have noticed and expect that clutch-mates will tend to hang together for life, if possible. Ditto raising a few clutches by hand...brown-egg layers from one of our hatcheries--the chicks and later adults always stick together to form their own flock. It was just a little surprising to me to see this particular clutch divide itself so early on into two distinct sub-groups based solely on their breeding, from what I can tell. So...do chickens know? Do purebreds always tend to hang together by breed if there are enough individuals to form a small flock, even if raised together with other purebreds from birth? Or do I just have some very snobby buff orpingtons? I would have thought that the ties between clutch-mates would override breeding, but maybe not...
Oh well, just some observations... Curious to know whether other chicken lovers have noticed the same or different...
This is the first time I've helped raise a clutch that included two different breeds, or more precisely, in this case, a pure breed and deliberate cross breds. I've watched a lot of broody-hen-raised clutches grow up in the past, always mixed-breeds, and have noticed and expect that clutch-mates will tend to hang together for life, if possible. Ditto raising a few clutches by hand...brown-egg layers from one of our hatcheries--the chicks and later adults always stick together to form their own flock. It was just a little surprising to me to see this particular clutch divide itself so early on into two distinct sub-groups based solely on their breeding, from what I can tell. So...do chickens know? Do purebreds always tend to hang together by breed if there are enough individuals to form a small flock, even if raised together with other purebreds from birth? Or do I just have some very snobby buff orpingtons? I would have thought that the ties between clutch-mates would override breeding, but maybe not...
Oh well, just some observations... Curious to know whether other chicken lovers have noticed the same or different...
