Breed Compatibility?

[Chris Yow]

I'm on the search for some chicks, but I want to make sure the breeds I'm thinking about are compatible with each other. I want to start small, so I really only want to get 1 of each breed for a total of 4-6 chickens at most. I'm mainly selecting for egg color, but there are couple I'm thinking about getting because I really like the chicken.

I can search online for behavior of the different breeds, but I'm hoping for some practical, real-world advice from people who actually raise these birds. You guys are the experts! Also, it would be great to get some recommendations about which of the breeds I list below are best or worst to raise together. Thanks in advance!

These are the breeds I'm thinking about:

Ameraucana
Maran (Black Copper)
Wyandotte (Silver Laced)
Plymouth Rock/Barred Rock
Olive Egger (if I can find one)
Sebright (golden)
Silkie

--Chris in Pensacola

 

[PrairieChickens]

It's less about breed compatibility and more about the individual chickens. You could have fifty different chickens from fifty different breeds and have them all get along perfectly, or you might have all the same breed of chicken and end up with a bully who makes everyone else miserable. I say if you want to go for those breeds, go for it--I have everything from an Old English Game bantam to a Jersey Giant in my flock, and they get along just fine.

Watch them as they grow and keep an eye out for excessively aggressive behavior. Remove any bullies to a separate enclosure so that they lose their spot in the pecking order and have to start over at the bottom. (Sometimes the only cure is a slice of humble pie) Odds are, you won't have any problems with a flock as small as yours.

Good luck snagging some olive eggers! If you follow My Pet Chicken on facebook, sometimes they'll have announcements on Monday mornings for over hatches, and you can snag rare breeds then. Depending on where you live, you may be able to order as few as 3 chicks, and they don't all have to be the same variety. If you know someone locally who wants chickens too, it could be a good chance to go in together on some hard-to-get varieties

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Seabrights and Silkie are small birds. People keep bantam with large fowl all the time but I don't recommend it as there can be bulling problems. Especially with the very docile Silkie. Again, folks do it all the time.

 

[Alia]

I don't see any super-aggressive breeds on that list. That would be what I'd watch out for. I kind of wish each breed had an aggressiveness rating, like the fish in the pet store. Some breeds are more or less aggressive than others but individual personality plays a huge role too. You don't really learn which are which (reliably) unless you've had a good amount of that breed. For example I've had enough Buff Orpingtons to say they're fairly submissive as a breed.

Oddly enough I've heard it both ways with bantams raised alongside large fowl; sometimes the big ones bully the bantams, but I've also heard of bantams being the bullies. Being small and knowing it is so does something strange to an animal's brain.

The chicken breed reviews on here are a really good resource. Some of them even give you hints as to where each breed is likely to settle in the pecking order. I might want some Marans so I read through all the reviews. (Mixed messages there, heh. Some reports of aggressiveness in the males and flightiness in the females, so I'm second-guessing them despite the plentiful reports of friendliness.)

 

[Chris Yow]

Thanks for the advice so far. From what I've read poking around the sight, it seems to be more important that the chicks all start out together rather than what breed they are. Makes sense. We have a chicken swap here, so I'm posting what breeds I want on the Facebook page and hoping to get to the next meet. I'm also checking Craigslist. So far, the only places I've looked at to order from want a minimum number, which is much larger than I can keep. Maybe I'll find someone local who wants to split an order with me.