New chicks and older chicks

[LittleOregonAnnie]

Are chickens racist? I am trying to integrate 3, 2 month old Comets with 2, 4 month old EEs. All pullets. Things seem to be going fine with the exception that one of the Comets is red. The other 2 are black. The Ameraucanas intentionally isolate the red one and peck at her head and legs. They chase the black ones occasionally but don't really bother them too much. The 3 Comets hang together because they were raised together and the black ones seemingly attempt to protect the red one. But these EEs are persistent. No blood has been drawn yet so I put them together daily, briefly, under my supervision to get them used to each other.
I have tried to put them together at night in the coop but the Comets sit at the coop door and peep continuously until I let them out. What can I do??

 

[mom2my2boyz]

While I'm very new to chickens, I think I know what you're saying... My first hens ( a cousin gave them to me) are: 3 BR, 2 BA and 2 EE. But one of the EE is almost completely black, like the BA, so she doesn't get picked on at all - but my other EE is very different in color from the rest of my hens and she is at the bottom of the pecking order and gets picked on by the others. Her head was pecked bald when I got her - the feathers are starting to grow back now, but she still gets picked on and the only reason I can think of is that she looks so different from the others. I'm hoping to remedy the situation by adding more variety to my flock - it's the only thing I can think of to help. So IMHO, yes, I think chickens can be "racist" - unfortunately.

 

[pkw]

I used to have easter eggers but I removed them from my flock because the easter eggers was always fighting with my new hampshires. I chose to keep the new hampshires over the easter eggers because my new hampshires are much more friendlier than the easter eggers was. I don't know if it is a color thing or not or whether it is just that breed of chicken.

 

[azygous]

Well, it is an established fact that chickens see color. It's also a fact that there are different personalities amongst the flock, as well as different temperaments in the various breeds. But who really knows what makes chickens behave the way they do to each other?

Last spring I raised ten Wyandotte chicks. They were all SLW's except for one, and she was a golden. She was bright red after fully feathered while the others were all black and white. The others chased her, pecked her, and tormented her. But there was never a mark on her because Irene was FAST! It turns out, that while Irene is near the bottom of the pecking order, and is still chased and picked on, it's a SLW that is at the very bottom.

I've only been doing chicken world for about three years now, so I'm no expert, but it seems age plays a bigger role in the pecking order than any thing else.

But far be it from me to say chickens can't be "racists". Birds of a feather and all.

 

[LittleOregonAnnie]

Hmmm, interesting. I'll just keep my eyes peeled and see what goes on. They seemed to be doing better together today with their "babysitting" session, so maybe the EEs are getting used to seeing the little red. She is the one they still go after though - when they decide to. Thanks for your responses.

 

[LittleOregonAnnie]

OK so this morning I took the 3 younger Comets out to the run prior to letting the 2 bigger EE girls out of the coop. As soon as I let the big girls out they started the chasing and pecking at the Comets.
I got mad and picked up each EE pullet, one at a time. I held them on the ground until they calmed down and stroked their heads so they knew I wasn't going to hurt them. The each got all mesmerized and put their heads almost all the way to the ground while still standing. It was weird.
I don't know if they thought I was a rooster or something, putting them in line or mating (LOL), but as soon as I released each EE pullet, they were much calmer and have not gone after the little ones again. What the ?