ISA Brown aggression and pecking order

[bigz1983]

I have 5 adult laying ISA Brown hens, 3 adult laying barred rock hens and one non laying old speckled sussex hen.

Out my 5 ISA Brown hens the 3 oldest ISA Brown's are at the top of the pecking order. They are freaking mean to the other chickens.

I have 8 buff orpington pullets, one ISA Brown/Barred rock cross pullet and one buff orpington cockerel all 14 weeks old that are separated from the adults but I plan on integrating them.

I fear that that the 3 oldest ISA Brown's that are at the top of the pecking order are going to make the integration hard.

Are ISA Brown's naturally the meanest in the pecking order and always the most aggressive to other chickens?

When my buff Orpington pullets get older and the ISA browns are gone(butchered) will intergrating new chickens with the flock be easier with a more docile breed like buff orpingtons?

Kinda wondering if I should just butcher the 3 meanest ISA Brown's now to get this integration process going?

 

[sourland]

I don't know that ISA Browns are any more dominant than others of the production breeds. When you make the integration you might remove these three from the flock until the new birds have safely integrated, and then reintroduce them to the flock one at a time over a period of time. Or if their production is unacceptable cull them.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

What are they doing?Its normal for chickens to chase other chickens from food ,are you experiencing normal chicken behavior but think it’s bad?

 

[bigz1983]

What are they doing?Its normal for chickens to chase other chickens from food ,are you experiencing normal chicken behavior but think it’s bad?

Yesterday I let the chickens out to free range and one of the older ISA Brown's took her beak and pinned down one of the younger ISA Brown hens. The ISA Brown's seem like they have a fighting chicken in their genetics. Their nasty mean.

 

[bigz1983]

Ok I have been trying to integrate my eight 17 week old buff Orpington pullets, 17 week old buff orpington cockerel and 18 week old ISA Brown/Barred rock cross pullet(10 total) with my adult flock.

I have 2 chicken runs that have separate entryways into the coop.

I'm having the most issues with my adult ISA Brown hens. My barred rocks are not bad they let the 17 week olds hang out.

I moved the 3 oldest ISA Brown's to the A-frame tarp covered chicken run and the buff orpingtons to the other side with the 2 young ISA's, 2 barred rocks and the old sussex hen.

My observation is the young ISA's are the meanest they pull feathers etc.
The barred rocks are nice they let the buff orpingtons get close.

I still wonder if this just a bad characteristic of the ISA Brown breed and just to get out of that breed all together.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Your issue could very well be space.Birds are goign to be aggressive.I would Seperate your youngsters let them get a get weight and reach about six months of age and then put them with the adults,the male sof he group should give hem a run for the money and if the pullets are ballzy enough they may even manage to knock the isa hens down a notch on the totem pole.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Maybe even older.You did he right thing Seperating the birds.Birds fight and rip fetahers,what your seeing is actually quite normal.You added in strangers.Could I see you ISA browns?

 

[bigz1983]

Sometimes I feel like that when getting new chickens it would be better to just cull all my older hens when I get young pullets rather than dealing with the whole pecking order B.S.

 

[KungFuMonkey]

I have 5 adult laying ISA Brown hens, 3 adult laying barred rock hens and one non laying old speckled sussex hen.

Out my 5 ISA Brown hens the 3 oldest ISA Brown's are at the top of the pecking order. They are freaking mean to the other chickens.

I have 8 buff orpington pullets, one ISA Brown/Barred rock cross pullet and one buff orpington cockerel all 14 weeks old that are separated from the adults but I plan on integrating them.

I fear that that the 3 oldest ISA Brown's that are at the top of the pecking order are going to make the integration hard.

Are ISA Brown's naturally the meanest in the pecking order and always the most aggressive to other chickens?

When my buff Orpington pullets get older and the ISA browns are gone(butchered) will intergrating new chickens with the flock be easier with a more docile breed like buff orpingtons?

Kinda wondering if I should just butcher the 3 meanest ISA Brown's now to get this integration process going?

I know this is from 8 years ago and you probably already culled those ISAs. I have had back yard chickens for 3 years now, I started with a flock of Black Australorps (which I really like mostly), but as chickens find ways to die, on 2nd year I ordered 10 ISA chicks. I've had them for a year now, and they are fairly docile toward my family, a few of them tolerate being held but most do not, and they are rather aggressive toward other chickens. I had a friend that needed me to temporarily adopt 2 of their chickens while they moved into an apartment to shop for a house, and those two poor birds are so badly harassed by my ISAs, it's like they've been tossed into a concentration camp! I feel the description of them online is very inaccurate. I recognize that ISAs from different breeders might be slightly different, since how ISAs are bred is a little bit secretive. Anyway, if I ONLY had ISAs it'd be fine with me, because they are so darn productive at laying nice big eggs with good hard egg shells. I LOVE them for that. My kids want me to get rid of the ISAs though, and I really want to get some new Black chickens (probably Australorps) as they tend to ward off hawks (which I do have to contend with.
Anyway, so that's what I am pondering at present. I'm thinking about ordering a new batch of birds soon and then trying to sell off some of my ISAs or butcher them (I'm not super interested in plucking feathers). I'm just deliberating over what breeds to get, I think I'll have a mix of breeds and while I am interested in egg production, my kids are interested in friendly cuddly birds that are pretty colors.

 

[MapleChick964]

I know this is from 8 years ago and you probably already culled those ISAs. I have had back yard chickens for 3 years now, I started with a flock of Black Australorps (which I really like mostly), but as chickens find ways to die, on 2nd year I ordered 10 ISA chicks. I've had them for a year now, and they are fairly docile toward my family, a few of them tolerate being held but most do not, and they are rather aggressive toward other chickens. I had a friend that needed me to temporarily adopt 2 of their chickens while they moved into an apartment to shop for a house, and those two poor birds are so badly harassed by my ISAs, it's like they've been tossed into a concentration camp! I feel the description of them online is very inaccurate. I recognize that ISAs from different breeders might be slightly different, since how ISAs are bred is a little bit secretive. Anyway, if I ONLY had ISAs it'd be fine with me, because they are so darn productive at laying nice big eggs with good hard egg shells. I LOVE them for that. My kids want me to get rid of the ISAs though, and I really want to get some new Black chickens (probably Australorps) as they tend to ward off hawks (which I do have to contend with.
Anyway, so that's what I am pondering at present. I'm thinking about ordering a new batch of birds soon and then trying to sell off some of my ISAs or butcher them (I'm not super interested in plucking feathers). I'm just deliberating over what breeds to get, I think I'll have a mix of breeds and while I am interested in egg production, my kids are interested in friendly cuddly birds that are pretty colors.

I got black Australorps and we're going to cull them. Eggs are few and thin shelled, and mind tend to be aggressive especially with the other chickens and go broody. We'll never have them again.

If you're looking for a friendly black bird..
we LOVE our Midnight Majesty Marans (Hoovers' breed).
● They lay ALOT of beautiful dark brown eggs that are HUGE (Xlarge-Jumbo +) with good shell quality.
● They have a sweet, docile, and curious personality. They're the first ones to run up to us and want attention!
● Not flighty at all and get along well with the rest of our mixed flock.
● Have gorgeous black fluffy feathers that have a blue/lavender sheen. They come in both clean or feathered legged. (Ours have the fun feathered legs, LOL).

My husband says we should just have a whole flock of MMMs but I like having a mix of egg colors. Wish all breeds had their sweet curious personalities and huge eggs!