chicken racism??? Please helpl

[mom'sfolly]

I had three pullets and last Saturday added a new bird. They first birds are two EEs and one red sex-link. The new girl is a golden comet/red hi-line. They were all in the same pen but separated until the new girl decided she was lonely a flew over the barrier to meet her new friends. Now my little flock seems to consist of two pairs; EEs and red hens. Is this normal? They are out in the grass now sleeping in a gold pile and a red pile. Will they reintegrate when the pecking order is all sorted out? The original red hen was Boss Chick, but the other red is older and may come out on top. Do I need to worry? Silly birds!

Karen

 

[SpottedCrow]

It's most certainly normal...
Speckledhen has a picture of her birds on the stairs and they've all broken down into their breeds...they did it by themselves, noone moved them there.
If there's been no fighting, the pecking order's already sorted itself out.

 

[mudhen]

Can't wait to see how my 18 different breed peeps (girls) will sort themselves out!!

 

[CarriBrown]

It's funny, isn't it? "Birds of a feather flock together!" True for both humans and chickens!

 

[keljonma]

Quote:
Our flock consists of 1 each of 19 different standard breeds. There are a couple that forage out by themselves and hang with a crowd in the hen house. Others prefer to forage with a group.

Our Jersey Black Giant hangs out with the White Faced Black Spanish; the Buff Orpington and Columbian Wyandotte are inseparable, the Ancona and Golden Laced Wyandotte are always gossiping together, and the Delaware and White Wyandotte are best buds.

That's how it usually goes. But then the next day, they are best friends with someone else.

 

[Freebie]

Quote:
Sounds like Jr. High School...

 

[keljonma]

Maybe, a little like school.

Somedays our Golden Penciled Hamburg and our Dominique are inseparable and others they are on different sides of the farmyard.

If you don't have more than 1 breed of each chicken, they still find others to hang with, but that pairing or grouping isn't necessarily etched in stone.

I was really just trying to say my flock gets along as well with each other as any other group of "kids" and none of them has a twin to pair with. I find it comforting to hear about how flocks come to their own sense of community.

I think they are much more fun to watch than people, but very similar. And I don't have to drive to the mall to do it.

 

[pansophia]

Rather than start a new thread, I think my question can fit in here - will this "breedism" be an issue with just two birds? Hubby likes RIRs and I like Buff Orpingtons so we were hoping to get one of each. Are we better off getting two of the same?

 

[keljonma]

I say go for it. Here is what our flock started as - 26 birds -
ONE of each breed listed....

Pullets-
Silver Lakenvelder
Golden Laced Wyandotte
Silver Laced Wyandotte
White Wyandotte
Columbian Wyandotte
Auraucana/Americana
Dominique
Barred Plymouth Rock
Partridge Plymouth Rock
White Plymouth Rock
Rhode Island Red
New Hampshire Red
Jersey Black Giant
Buttercup
Ancona
Buff Orpington
Delaware
Silver Spangled Hamburg
Golden Penciled Hamburg
White Faced Black Spanish
Silver Grey Dorking
Speckled Sussex
Rose Comb Brown Leghorn

Cockerels-
Golden Campine
Single Comb Light Brown Leghorn

 

[barg]

Are chickens all different breeds, like dogs, or are there actually different species of chickens.

Dogs dont seem to care what breed another dog is.