Flock harmony

[gootziecat]

Hi all,

I have some general questions that will involved knowledge of specific breeds.

What breeds get along well together, roost or sleep together without bickering nightly? What breeds do the roosters usually tolerate others they are use to? What breeds of rooster will treat the chicks well, help show them food, even cover them at night?

Looking forward to hearing your experiences with the different breeds on these matters. I love bantams so would be particularly interested in hearing about them. Thank you.

 

[Mrs. K]

There are generalizations about breeds, but when it comes down to it, they are individual birds - and a lot of them did not get the memo about their breed!

To increase the chance of harmony - they should be the same size or near the same size as adults. A lot of people have problems with ordinary full size birds and trying to mix them with bantams and polish birds. Birds that look different - tend to be ostracized.

Sometimes you will notice similarly colored birds, tend to hang together - so often it is good to try and get at least 2 of every breed you get.

Too many or even one rooster can really destroy the harmony in a smaller flock. Multiple roosters multiplies the chances of fighting and discord in the flock.

I have tried single breed flocks, and mix breed flocks, and I like a mix better. But mine are all full size birds.

Mrs K

 

[FrostRanger]

Nightly bickering is unrelated to breed, proper coop setup helps, but they're going to bicker about that at least a bit no matter what you do. As long as no one is getting hurt, it's nothing to worry about.

In general you want to keep docile breeds with other docile breeds but as @Mrs. K said, individual temperment is far more important than breed. What you hear about breed temperment just tells you what the breed as a whole tends to skew towards, it doesn't tell you what your bird is going to be like necessarily