Disharmony between breeds?

[Project Blue]

I hatched a solitary egg from 6 shipped eggs and needed friends for the lonely wheaton ameraucana roo chick, so I bought 2 barnvelder pullets and 2 starlight green egger pullets. Later I integrated the 5 into an older group of 2 ameraucanas pullets, and one EE roo. All 8 were harmonious for weeks. The 2 starlight green eggers, I believe are actually Frosty Legbars. They are solid white with a cap on their heads. They also have long upright tails. Something about them started bothering the EE roo and now the rest of the flock is against them as well. First it started with not sharing new foods, now the Legbars have to keep their distance but are still ok other than being shunned. No fierce attacks but the roo is only half grown. I feel bad because I was disappointed I didn't get the chicks I wanted and may have given the stink eye to Legbars, but now the other chickens are giving them a hard time. If they get close they get pecked and hide about 20 percent of the time. The odd thing is the EE roo likes the Ameraucana roo chick, and a splash pullet that looks mostly white. So what gives? Has anyone else have chickens hate another breed of chicken? Especially ones that were raised together from less than a week old.

 

[thecatumbrella]

Chickens prefer chickens that look like themselves. Not a very progressive animal!

How old is everyone? How much space do they have? It sounds like the girls and boys are becoming hormonal, and unfortunately, someone needs to be the punching bag. So long as no one is being truly bullied (ie. pursued around the run) and everyone can eat and drink (so put out some extra feeders and waterers), you'll need to let them play it out. It sucks to watch, I know.

I just went through a whirlwind of pecking order fanatics myself and ended up writing an article about it. You would think being raised together would hold more stock, but it doesn't.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

You mentioned that the two being pecked have “caps.” I’m guessing that this is a tuft of feathers? I’ve read that sometimes chickens pick on others with unusual feathering, especially on their heads, so yes, it can happen.

How old is the EE rooster/cockerel? It sounds as if he was the instigator. You mentioned that he’s “half-grown” - sounds like an adolescent cockerel dealing with raging hormones. This can be REALLY disruptive to flock harmony. Have you considered separating him from the others for a while to allow the pecking order to reset?

Also, how big is your coop (the sleeping area), and how big is your run (protected area surrounding or attached to the coop)?

 

[Project Blue]

You mentioned that the two being pecked have “caps.” I’m guessing that this is a tuft of feathers? I’ve read that sometimes chickens pick on others with unusual feathering, especially on their heads, so yes, it can happen.

How old is the EE rooster/cockerel? It sounds as if he was the instigator. You mentioned that he’s “half-grown” - sounds like an adolescent cockerel dealing with raging hormones. This can be REALLY disruptive to flock harmony. Have you considered separating him from the others for a while to allow the pecking order to reset?

Also, how big is your coop (the sleeping area), and how big is your run (protected area surrounding or attached to the coop)?

The coop area is about 8 x8 and the run similar size. There are vertical spaces about 6 stacked nest boxes and 2 bars going across. There is also a metal thingy that's about 6 feet long and raised for smaller chicks to run under. The two in trouble do have turfs of feathers on their heads. I did an extensive search and believe they are Frosty Legbars but could be something else, as they were Rural King chicks. It's weird because the same age Barnvelders who are dark are with the "IN' crowd. The EE is lavender, the younger roo is a dilute wheaton, one pullet is splash but mostly white, and a regular wheaton pullet. It may indeed be the cap that's freaking out the rest not color. It's not a big crest like a polish chicken but it more noticeable as they aged about the time they started getting shunned. I'm hatching a bunch of chicks right now so there is no where to stash a roo, as I've got different ages with the new chicks. I'm used to my own line of Ameraucanas that are pretty easy going, especially the roos. I just hatched 4 chocolate Ameraucanas from shipped eggs and they were less than 12 hours old and were merciless with a late hatcher, so I guess different strains can be more/less aggressive, but I've never had a flock getting along for weeks then turn on one particular type chicken. I think I'm going to try clipping down the crest and see what happens or perhaps find a new home for them.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

The coop area is about 8 x8 and the run similar size. There are vertical spaces about 6 stacked nest boxes and 2 bars going across. There is also a metal thingy that's about 6 feet long and raised for smaller chicks to run under. The two in trouble do have turfs of feathers on their heads. I did an extensive search and believe they are Frosty Legbars but could be something else, as they were Rural King chicks. It's weird because the same age Barnvelders who are dark are with the "IN' crowd. The EE is lavender, the younger roo is a dilute wheaton, one pullet is splash but mostly white, and a regular wheaton pullet. It may indeed be the cap that's freaking out the rest not color. It's not a big crest like a polish chicken but it more noticeable as they aged about the time they started getting shunned. I'm hatching a bunch of chicks right now so there is no where to stash a roo, as I've got different ages with the new chicks. I'm used to my own line of Ameraucanas that are pretty easy going, especially the roos. I just hatched 4 chocolate Ameraucanas from shipped eggs and they were less than 12 hours old and were merciless with a late hatcher, so I guess different strains can be more/less aggressive, but I've never had a flock getting along for weeks then turn on one particular type chicken. I think I'm going to try clipping down the crest and see what happens or perhaps find a new home for them.

I hope that works!

 

[Mrs. K]

You know, you didn’t want these birds either. Sell them.

However, if a new victim is chosen, well then you need to look at space, hideouts and total head count.