Hmmmm, I'm considering Raz's advice on not doing the rainbow flock first. Hard to comment as it is exactly what I did as a grass-green newby.
Of course, nobody advised me against it. I did ask if it was okay to mix standard and bantam fowl together as I really wanted both, and a local "experienced" chicken keeper (who I now know does a lot of things I disagree with, so today I wouldn't necessarily ask him anything) told me it was fine as long as they were raised together from chicks. But not only did I want a colorful egg basket, I wanted to know all my chickens as individuals. My main motivation in getting chickens, honestly, was the pet factor and not the egg factor. I was afraid if I got ten buff Orpingtons, or whatever, I wouldn't be able to tell them apart and I wouldn't enjoy them as much. Now if you'd told me the chickens would be happier with only one or two breeds, I might have been persuaded...
As it turned out, with my original chicks I got one BO, one NHR, one BSL, one GLW, two EE, and two bantam Sebrights (one silver and one golden). (There was also a black Jersey Giant and. black Silkie chick that didn't survive). I have to say they were generally a happy, cohesive bunch. The two EE's did pal around together a little more, but not exclusively. The two Sebrights were middle of the pecking order, and not especially bonded to each other. I think I have been lucky. Never had a particularly feisty hen, the worst thing that's happened hen-to-hen has been the occasional picking out of a blood feather, but it never went further.
Most of the new birds I've added have been hatched and introduced by Edna my silver Sebright and champion broody hen, and they've integrated fine. Two years ago at Chickenstock I bought two five day old golden Sebright chicks from Theron, and those two have stayed very clannish. They don't fight with anyone or get picked on (well, not since Stewie the ill-starred rooster went to solitary confinement for terrorizing them exclusively) but unless one or the other is broody, they are rarely more than a few feet apart. Once they finally believed the Stewie Nightmare was over and it was safe to come out of the coop, they decided they really like Virgil, the alpha rooster, and usually they are quite near him too.
I do love to watch all the chickens and their various interactions and social systems. Now I wonder if I would be seeing closer "friendships" if I had more of the same breed? Just speculating, I think they're pretty happy! And I do currently have four EE/Ameraucana hens, but they're not a clique or anything.
As I said, I think I got lucky to have hens that turned out peaceable and easygoing and friendly to each other. I swear I did not give them any diversity lectures or institute any anti-bullying policies or post signs saying (in Chickenese) "You can't say that you can't play."
