Chicken Flocks: Mixed or All One Breed?

[SugarGroveFarm]

Hello guys! I was just curious about everyone's opinions on different breeds in a chicken flock. Do you guys normally have several different breeds in a flock or is it more common to have a flock of one breed? Just curious one everyone's views on mixed versus all breed flocks! Let me know what you guys do and what you think! Thank in advance!

 

[TheTwoRoos]

It’s ok to do mixed breeds,I do,and most people you will come across do as well.
Some breeds are more prone to be aggressive,so sometimes when you mix them together the more aggressive breeds tend to show and the weaker more laid back breeds tend to get bullied sometimes,but this actually doesn’t happen too often.

 

[JaeG]

I like a mixed flock because there are so many pretty breeds, and so many different egg colours.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Since I have a small flock I mix because it's fun to try out different breeds and as a bonus I can easily identify my birds at a glance.

 

[SugarGroveFarm]

I like a mixed flock because there are so many pretty breeds, and so many different egg colours.

Yeah that's what I think is cool, seeing the different kinds of chickens and getting a variety of eggs. Although as far as if you wanted to sell chicks it would be better to keep one breed or have your flocks separated to avoid mix breeding unless you want sex links that is

 

[SugarGroveFarm]

Since I have a small flock I mix because it's fun to try out different breeds and as a bonus I can easily identify my birds at a glance.

Yeah telling birds apart easily is definitely a plus!

 

[chickendreams24]

Hi there!

We keep a mixed flock but we have a pretty large flock and multiple breeds. They live and free range together daily unless we separate out a breed for breeding.

We have 2 large coops(one of which is an old converted 2 room milk house), a covered 3 season run, and small tractor coop. We plan to add a couple more tractor coops of similar and larger sizes.

We have a number of breeds with additional oddballs. We have English Orpingtons, a few colors. Silkies, Cream legbars, EE, SLW, a project breed, Buckeyes, Dominiques, and oegb. We have mostly only sets of 3-5 girls of each breed except more English Orpingtons. We will be weaning down some of the flocks this year but plan on hatching others too. We also usually have one hatch a year of barnyard mixes depending on when the local schools contact us for eggs.
Right now I don't have a breeding oegb rooster.

We have a pair of Dominiques
4 buckeye pullets(hens next month) and am still choosing the best cockeral for them.


Etc etc. I love having multiple breeds they all have their own unique ways.

 

[SugarGroveFarm]

I plan on having a mixed flock when I'm ready to get some birds. I do really like the looks of the speckled sussex though and everyone has told me all good things about them which made me consider getting a whole flock of them that's why I started this thread wanted to see what everyone else does and thinks about having different breeds or just one

 

[rosemarythyme]

I'd like a Speckled Sussex in my next batch of chicks as well. But I only want one.

 

[chickendreams24]

I have two SS girls and I love them they're great! Both people oriented but one is definitely more friendly than the other. She likes to be held on occasion and does well with handling. Her sister outs up a fuss but calms down.

I really like our two ss girls.

When we started out we wanted a mixed flock to tell them apart and to try other breeds to see what we liked.

It kind of stuck lol. We have narrowed it down more and more but after all of them idk if I could go to just one breed of uniform looking chickens.

I love looking out and seeing the variety. I love being able to say this bird limped today a bit from quite a distance and then be able to check her over. It's also great for bed check. But I do love looking out at our flocks when separate too. It is very nice having a mixed flock to keep track of production.

Of you wanted one breed with a variety of looks swedish flower hens, hedamora, etc also EE (although quailified as a mix) are wonderful.

We set out to see what we liked and what worked for us and I recommend that for anyone who'd like to. Then we decided what traits were important for us and what we liked the looks of. We also want to help protect rare and beautiful breeds. Everyone we know loves our colorful egg basket as well. We get everything from cream and white to pale blue and green to tinted, pink, brown, medium brown, mint green, olive green and a nice fairly bright blue. We also have a new layer that is laying gray eggs. Gray!