hi from Dianna, this is a bit nuts. but my black peeps hate my red ones....?????? & Visa Versa

[Diannastarr]

gosh, i never had this problem in the past , i guess because i never owned a mixed flock ..? i have no idea why my black chickens barred rocks & silver laced whyandotts , dont like my red chickens , new Hampshire reds & Visa Versa, at this point no one can tell me animals are color blind......lol...

they were all in a play pen together as babies, but the reds were divided from the blacks by a screen divider they could still see each other all the time, but the reds were 3 weeks older , and for that reason they were separated from the smaller ones for safety , soooo now what to do...?? they never cross this invisible color line..? and when they do they fight..? its a bit nuts if you ask me.....lol.... has any one had this problem...??or any one have some chicken wisdom to share..?

if you do, thank you in advance, & more power to you...!!!...

.

 

[Ridgerunner]

How old are they now? What sex? It sounds like you recently let them together. How did you do that? What are their living conditions, meaning how much space do they have and where do they sleep? What does this fighting look like? Is it a cockerel trying to mate a pullet? Are they trying to kill each other? Is it a skirmish where one quickly runs away though the other may chase a bit? Is it two cockerels fighting? Is it just one or two of them being aggressors? Is there a set time or conditions when this happens?

Chickens are not color blind but many of us have mixed flocks and never have this type of problem. When you merge flocks (which I what it sounds like you just did) you have to go through an integration. You raised them separately even if they could see each other.

They have to sort out the pecking order when they merge if that is what is going on. More mature chickens automatically rank higher than more immature chickens and are often not slow to enforce their pecking order rights if a lower ranking chicken invades their personal space. Some chickens are just brutes and will go out of their way to harass or attack weaker chickens, often these are the ones lowest in the pecking order from the older group.

Extra space often helps in these situations. If they are shoehorned into a tiny space you are a lot more likely to have these problems and for these problems to be serious than if they have lots of room.

There are way too any possibilities for what could be going on, but instead of looking at a simplistic color difference look at what else is going on. It’s much more likely to be something behavioral than color related.

 

[Diannastarr]

HI RIDGERUNNER, & THANK YOU...!! YES I TO NEVER HAD A MIXED FLOCK BEFORE..? .....lol.... so this color thing is nuts to me.....lol... it could be the age difference..?a differance of 4 weeks..???? between the reds & the blacks & yes we have something like sudden skirmishes, from 2 red ones who are always together & turned aggressors since tiny chicks...?? geezzz..??? and then 2 other reds both girls they are mostly fine with the blacks, no real skirmishes from them, we have 4 red ones & they are the older ones by 4 weeks & one possibly is a young roo..? he is very sweet with me & all the red ones , THE BLACK ONES ARE 4 barrdrocks 12 weeks & 7 silverlaced whydandotts 9 weeks who live together very well since they were tiny chicks, but they all have been separated after they were all just purchased,& all at different ages, the reds were 4 weeks , I got them first & much bigger then the blacks who were all still tiny fuzzzz balls just days old....lol.. all to small for the reds jumping on them , so since we got them all they have been screen separated and can see each other constantly , and all in good size space for each group, also all are being air conditioning until they get a lot older or the AZ weather is less hot, I would not stress out growing babies in the heat of AZ , they could die...!!! so they all come out to run and play all together with me every day for hours before sun set, when its cooler then here in southern AZ & they all stay out until they want back in, but play time is when 2 reds turn aggressors, and charge into the younger smaller black group ,but they turn back when i tell them to..! and mostly they all stay separated its like they choose to do that on their own..? by staying on either ends of their play area .? but the reds do try to run into the blacks, i figure that letting the smaller younger ones grow a lot more in size when they are a lot older and after i train all of them to come running to me if i see any kind of danger..? they will all go out together in the open yard of several acres and then let it all happen in the pecking order between colors that will eventually take place , so thats my plan....lol.. I have trained my chickens in the past but all were the same breed young hens from the live stock action , so im a bit amazed by this red / black thing...?.....lol...plus i never had tiny peeps with out a mother hen who raised them ...??????..lol.... .