Buff Orps being bullied by Barred Rocks

[AutMom3113]

]I have 2 Buff Orpingtons and 2 Barred Rocks. They are appx 2 weeks old. I got them on day 4 and they have been together the entire time. They are all supposed to be female, but we have serious suspicions regarding one of the BRs.

Sunday morning I found one of my BOs (Lucy Loo) favoring her right leg and seeming a bit weak overall. She had no visable injuries and did not mind me manipulating her legs and wings. I was able to get her to eat a bit of yogurt and drink some water from a dropper and I observed a normal poop, so I separated her from the others while I was at church and hoped for the best. By the time I got home she was up hopping around, happy as could be. She still seemed a bit weak but everything else was normal so I returned her to the brooder with the others assuming maybe she just got a little frisky and fell from the little roost I made them.

But, then today I had all 4 outside for a bit. They were all in the brooder, and I noticed that my OTHER Orp (Puff) was acting like the other did yesterday. I immediately pulled her out and checked her over. Again I found no obvious reason for this behavior.

I spent a long time watching them all together. I saw one Rock peck at a Orp. There was some stepping on and chasing going on but it was both breeds, not one sided attacks. Nothing horribly aggressive that I could tell. They all stick together for the most part moving around the brooder together. They are all eating and drinking. Poo seems normal. I clean the brooder daily and they get plenty of interaction from myself or my daughter.

My 2 theories are:
1. They are growing bored and are acting out.
2. They are too big for the brooder and taking it out on each other. (They are currently in a large Rubbermade container.)

Or my Rocks are just meanies!! Both my Rocks are visably larger than the Orps and heavier too.

Any ideas or advice?
Thanks!

 

[fried green eggs]

Sounds like they may need a bigger box and more room. I have read that buffs can be very docile and may be picked on by other breeds.

 

[AutMom3113]

Ugh. That is what I feared. I guess I am going to have to figure out better quarters for my brood!

 

[birdiemomma]

Interestingly enough, I have both a BR rooster, Brigadier General, 5+years old and BO Rooster, Colonel Mustard, 2 years old, running my flock of 15 hens and they get along very well. Colonel Mustard is very docile.

 

[speckledhen]

They're not meanies, they're chickens. Rocks tend to be more dominant in a flock when they're grown, but I don't consider that aggressive, just confidant. And they're babies, too, so they're playing. Sounds like you just need more room for them to romp around.