Are some chicks racist?

[savedbyhisblood]

I'm not really kidding.

Two weeks ago we got two chicks from a friend that ended up being about 10 days old when our shipment of 21 arrived from the hatchery.

When the newbies arrived one of the older ones started pecking them, however she only pecked the dark ones-the Barred Rocks and Silver Laced Wyandottes. The lighter ones she left alone.

We put the two olders in a separate wire cage inside the same brooder with the youngers so they could get used to each other. After a couple of days we were able to put them all together again and the pecking seems to have stopped.

I'm glad the problem seems to be solved. Why though, do you think when the one was pecking it was just of the darker ones?

 

[gritsar]

Chicks naturally peck at dark things. They peck at red things too; thus the reason the bases of feeders and waterers are generally red. Basically they will peck at anything that is different than most of what they see.

 

[DTchickens]

Quote:
^ and also the chicks being new.. They were probably trying to make a pecking order.

 

[Wynette]

Interesting you should mention this. I recently hatched out some EE chicks and some Jersey Giant x New Hampshire Reds. They all hatched together, at the same time, same day. Within 3-4 days, they were sleeping separately in two little bunches. I found it interesting. Now that they are older, they do pretty much inter-mingle, though, I'm happy to say!

 

[savedbyhisblood]

I figured that it may just be the darker coloring. The pine shaving are light, both olders were light, everything they were seeing(except feeder and waterer) was light.

I'm just glad everyone is getting along now.

 

[Colored Egg Farmer]

Do you know whats funny I had a white chicken wiht all my brown chickens and the white chicken got picked on. I had to seperate the white chicken away from the browns.

 

[debakadeb]

I wondered the same thing ..I have 3 black sex links and 2 either red sex links or golden comets. And ... then I have a white cochin. The sex links and the comets (who are also sex links, I think) made friends with each other but the cochin always seemed "apart" from the others. Now that they are 5 1/2 weeks old, she just pushes her way through. I think they initially knew she was a little different than then..but then again, maybe I'm given them more credit than I should.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Here again, your white cochin was different. They will try to peck at anything different from what to them is the norm. If you go into a commercial chicken house where all the chickens are white and throw something, anything, black in the center of the house, at first the other chickens will run as far away from it as they can. After they've calmed down a bit they will mob it and try to peck it to death. Even if it's a black t-shirt.