introducing chickens question/ silkies and orpingtons

[michellerayne]

Hi everyone! First of all I want to let anyone who reads this know I'm about 2 weeks into my backyard chicken experience so any advice is great. I have a very small backyard setup going on. I bought a pair of silkies a couple weeks ago and a neighbor dog got into the coop (our fault, but we have now fortified it so that won't be happening again hopefully). My husband and I assumed the rooster escaped and got eaten, because he was nowhere to be found. At any rate we decided to get 2 more 5 week old orpingtons to add because I was afraid the hen would get lonely. I don't know if this is a good mix or not. Amazingly 2 days later someone found our rooster hiding in their garage and we got him back. So now we have a total of 4, but I notice the two silkies will kind of try and nip at the babies, I look at the babies everyday to make sure they're not injured and I've never seen any blood, they're eating and doing fine. Is this a normal thing for chickens to do? Are they just trying to guide them? Show dominance? I know the babies when they grow up are going to be much bigger than my silkies, but will the pecking order still stand? Any responses are greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.

 

[TheSpeckledRoo]

It seems to me like your Silkies are establishing the pecking order and that is perfectly normal. My buff Orpingtons are very docile and are at the bottom of the pecking order, which is usual for that breed if i am not mistaken. When your Orpingtons get larger however they may be more dominate than your silkies just because they are the larger breed. I have even seen a larger hen be more dominate than the bantam rooster. You are right to check in on your chicks to make sure they are not being bullied. If i was you, i would just continue what you are doing with observing their behavior they will figure out who is more dominate in time.