Personalities By Breed

[france]

We received our chicks on Tuesday. It has been very interesting to watch them and see how in general they have such different personalities by breed. The 4 silkies tend to sleep/sit more and be more laid back. The buff orpingtons just do their own thing and ignore the rest. The EE's like to sit on everyone else's heads, jump into a group of sleeping chicks, peck everyone and every thing and cause all kinds of problems. They especially like to grab silkie legs and pull. The surprise packing peanuts (leghorns I think) like to launch themselves into the air but pretty much just take up a lot of space. The white crested polish bantams try to avoid it all.

One of the polish has a hurt leg. She arrived with it but spent so much time napping we did not realize it at first. She cannot put one leg straight. I had to make a space for her away from the others. The EE's liked to jump on her. She is eating and drinking but is already obviously smaller then the others. I do not want to cull her if we can get her better. One day on her own and she seems to be more perky and getting around better.

Between the surprise packing peanuts and now a segregated chick they have grown out of their brooder. I have to go modify a big dog crate this morning. Give them more space. Not to mention giving me a way to lock them in - the kids like to sneak in and play with them. This morning at 6:30 I found my two boys and 6 chicks playing on the floor of the porch.

The only hard part of all this is trying to get the temperature right. The brooder is in an enclosed porch. The temps can go from high to low depending on the time of day. It seems like I am raising and lowering the heat lamp every hour.

 

[walkswithdog]

Fix the lamp where the area below it stays over 90, no matter the drop or rise in temp. As long as they have enough AREA to get away from the heat when it is too high they'll be fine and that is what you are shooting for.

As long as they can flee temps that are too warm, and get to food and water, they can always GO to the warm zone when they need it. That means the isolated chick needs to be in a zone at the edge of the heated area and THAT is the only one you need to keep an eye on.

Healthy, normal free to move chicks can move between zones and pick their comfort levels. The whole darn thing doesn't have to be up in the 90's. Newborn chicks run around with momma in temps in the 40's and 50's then hide under her to get warm and go out again.

As long as there is plenty of room and access to food and water the only one really needing supervision is going to be the injured one who may benefit more from being indoors in a rigged single brooder with a nice new clean feather duster to hide in and cuddle with.

As to personalities by breed, so much depends on source of the birds, that most of the "this breed is sweet" "that one flighty" are just generalizations that don't fit what you end up with. I've had some screamingly MEAN nasty unendurable buff orpingtons and everyone will tell you they're the sweetest birds. NOT. Depends on source, handling, parentage and the individual.

I've had 25 birds same breed, same source, from the same source and had the sweetest and meanest, flightiest all in the same group.

 

[fivestring]

I agree. The buff orp hen I have is the nastiest old biddie in my flock. She is top hen and don't you dare forget it for a second. But she lays the nicest big brown eggs!

My buff orp roo is the kindest gentleman I could ask for but will still flog any newcomers to the run.

My polish were very happy staying in the coop 24-7 while all the other birds would be free ranging. Loners, I guess. My Rhode Island Reds seem to be instigators, always picking on somebody.

The two silkies stick together like super glue, just trying to avoid being picked on by the rest.

 

[Bluemoon420]

One of my buff orp's ( Miss Dotty) was also the meanest of our chicken recruits. However she has calmed down some. I showed her the frying pan one day, and said...If you don't fly straight, you'll end up here! I swear after that day she has calmed down.
We recently moved them outside, and I think the other girls have knocked her down a few notches. Our tiniest Isa Brown ( Tiny Teena) has been putting her in her place. It's kind of funny to watch

Our other buff orp ( Henny Penny) is complete opposite. She is very friendly, and loves to be pet. I think really boils down to their personality. All of our chickens that are the same breed have very distinct ones. Despite looking alike, I can tell them apart no problem.

Bluemoon

 

[NJbirdlover]

My BO & EE chicks are very sweet so far, my Barred Rocks & Black Aus. are Not friendly at all and my favorite would have to be Romeo & Juliet our Speckled Sussex. I have a feeling that I know which one is the roo already and he is the sweetest of them all!

oh and the RIR are sweet too!

 

[KayP]

France, my new EE (came on Tues from MPC) is acting exactly the same as you describe! She's supposed to be a bantam but she's bigger than all the other bantams. She's so high strung, you can always count on her to be the one jumping on someone else's head. The barred rock is totally docile. I also got some of Sara's little lavender ameraucana bantams on Sunday and they are the sweetest of all! I only wanted one, but to get a pullet I was going to get 3, and then she threw in a fourth just to be sure. Anyway, they are all soooooo precious I don't know how we'll get rid of any! For sure the cockerels will need to go (hopefully to good homes) but what if they're all pullets!!

 

[joedie]

My Barred Rocks are the friendliest, the Buff Orps are the most inquisitive and willing to try new food but the RIR's wait until the buffs take the food and chase them to try to steal it from them even though the dish is full! The australorps are the quietest and the black sex links are a little skittish. The SLW's are pretty laid back. I guess it just depends!

 

[tlaquepaque]

Funny, my RIRs are super nice and the barred rocks don't like to be bothered.

 

[NJbirdlover]

Quote:
exact same way with mine

 

[scullybird]

My white leghorn is very inquisitive, likes to perch up high (even before she got feathers, she was somehow getting up on the edge of their box to perch), and is absolutely the top hen. She's not mean, though... simply a natural-hatched leader.

The barred rock is very calm, and seems to enjoy being held. She wants to be in on whatever is going on. If another chick finds something (worm, food, whatever), she comes tearing across the pen to check it out, screeching to a halt on a dime.

The RIR is flighty... gets spooked easily, runs screaming from a hand in the cage, and seems to be slowest to lose her head down... she still looks pretty mangy, while the rest are smoothly feathered.

The two black sex links are pretty mellow, and like to hang together. They are the leghorn's groupies, and usually hang near her. They don't particularly care for humans, but arent particularly bothered by us, either.

I have LOVED getting to know their personalities!