Chicken personalities -question?

[alibabba]

Hi, As I am new, I have a few different breeds...I like the individuality and ease of the backyard confetti.

I have 2 little bantam D'uccles that are really hard to tell apart. They move the same, it's like sychronized. It's like they are the same chicken. They have to fly out of the pen and go on the porch to lay their eggs...this is new and will have to stop...

My SLW is a big personality. She's hilariously bold, brave and friendly. If I got another, would she be the same or different? Or maybe, if I got 2 at the same time would they be as hard to tell apart as those D'Uccles?

I really enjoy them as individuals.

So, I am curious as to people who have all one breed, do they notice big differences in personality generally? I guess I am afraid of getting another SLW and realizing that she is not so unique...that they are all cool, but kinda exactly the same?

Do you know what I mean?

Thoughts?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

They are all different personalities. However, if they are best buds they like to move together as a flock and thus may seem identical. I have one Black Australorp who is friendlier than all the other ones. She is the only one who will come up to me and talk.

 

[alibabba]

Thank you for your input! I see the individuals more easily, when they look different. So good to know that are not all the same, personality wise. I was afraid to know.

Along that line, I can not imagine a "free range" facility with a warehouse full of thousands of hens that look alike, but are all trully unique and different... I guess it's similar to a city of people...similar, but different, heavy...

 

[scratch'n'peck]

I ordered a mix mixed flock of female chicks from the hatchery - 2 barred rock, 2 austlorp, 2 Buff Orpington, 2 Russian Orloff, 2 Buff Brahma. As they developed, I noticed that the chickens who shared the same breed had a similar temperament, but they still developed different personalities. The Barred Rocks are usually the first to jump on my lap when I sit down, but one is bolder than the other. One Austalorp is more adventurous. One of the Orloffs is more bossy than the other. My buffs are all sweet, but they each have their quirks. I think the fact that I had different breeds that I could tell apart easily helped me recognize their individuality. They are 2 years old now.

Your D'uccles sound like best friends who hang out so much that they develop a shared personality.

 

[alibabba]

very cool observations to share scratch'n'peck! It delights me that they are like like little chicken people, with their quirks.

Those D'uccles sit in the nest box together! But they are a bit different. Hard to tell they move so fast sometimes watching from a distance, or underfoot!

Today, one jumped/flew right over a big hen to avoid her. Big hen looked uber confused for a moment. I did laugh out loud.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

"Uber confused" LOL

 

[cluckcluckgirl]

I have a few chickens of some breeds, and I notice that they share some similar personalities, yet are very distinct with their differences. As to getting 2 chickens that are hard to tell apart, sometimes the genes line up in such a similar way that makes it hard to tell who's who, but most of my chickens have some gene or genes in them that tells me who it is.

 

[Ballerina Bird]

I have two ladies, both pita pintas, and their personalities are TOTALLY different. Odette the smaller one is shy but smart, and Odile the larger one is very outgoing but doesn't figure things out quite so fast. Odile, however, is the alpha and guards both of them -- she is always scanning the sky for hawks, which Odette does't do quite so assiduously. And even though Odette is more shy, she is very insistent that treats be fed to her from my hand, whereas Odile is perfectly happy to dig in wherever they are scattered on the ground. Odile is a languorous sunbather and preener, while Odette jogs a lap around the garden every morning when she is let out of the coop and is pretty much always busy foraging. Even though their markings are the same, I can tell them apart from pretty far away, as they walk and move differently. Their vocalizations are also different. Odette trills softly when she is trying to tell me to get out the treats so she can have her share before going upstairs to lay, and honks like a goose when she is excited, whereas Odile makes somewhat more conventional chicken sounds. Chickens can have highly varying personalities within a breed, I think. At least, to those of us who probably spend too much time watching them!

 

[alibabba]

Scratch and peck, it was "uber hilarious". Those big tough hens... came from a farm of 50, 5 roos mud everywhere and I think dead chickens....

They think they are so cool and tough and smart, until the little thing just flew over her head and cheerfully avoided her whole contrary self.

 

[alibabba]

Ballerina Bird, We do watch them too much.....but it brings so much quiet and peace to a racing world and a racing mind.