Predjudice chickens

[Silverhorse7]

Is it normal for my hens to segregate themselves by breed? They have been one flock since they hatched, but they have a tendency to clique with the sisters of the same breed. Is this normal?

 

[Fred's Hens]

Birds of a feather, flock together.

Sometimes those old sayings contain a bit of truth.

 

[b.hromada]

Birds of a feather, flock together.

Sometimes those old sayings contain a bit of truth.

You may be right!

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

My original flock did the same thing. I raised them all as chicks. I started out with two dark brahmas, two production reds, and two black australorps, all hens.
They always spent the most time in pairs, while the two dark brahmas were dust bathing, the australorps would be foraging a few feet away, and the production reds would be sun bathing nearby.
My original flock is getting up there in age now, and both the production reds have since passed on. One of my australorps has a leg problem, and ended up getting beat up by the flock last year, and remains separated.

The two dark brahmas are the only pairs left that are from my original flock, and they don't seem as close as they used to be. I'm not sure why they have grown apart, perhaps age has made them more independent. My flock has changed a lot, I now have a pair of golden sebrights (one rooster and one hen). As juveniles they where inseparable. They are three years old now, and they are still close, but they don't rely on each other as much as they used to.

I also have triplet hens, barnyard mixes, who just began laying a couple weeks ago, and they are ALWAYS together, so much that I can't even tell them apart from each other.

I have one "odd" hen, who doesn't have another of the same breed, she was a rescue, and she is a loner (but does enjoy the company of people more than most of my chickens). She sleeps alone on the window sill of the coop.

It's very interesting how you have found this to be true in your flock as well, I thought it was a coincidence in my flock, lol.

It sure is interesting isn't it? I wonder why they do this.

 

[Silverhorse7]

My original flock did the same thing. I raised them all as chicks. I started out with two dark brahmas, two production reds, and two black australorps, all hens.
They always spent the most time in pairs, while the two dark brahmas were dust bathing, the australorps would be foraging a few feet away, and the production reds would be sun bathing nearby.
My original flock is getting up there in age now, and both the production reds have since passed on. One of my australorps has a leg problem, and ended up getting beat up by the flock last year, and remains separated.

The two dark brahmas are the only pairs left that are from my original flock, and they don't seem as close as they used to be. I'm not sure why they have grown apart, perhaps age has made them more independent. My flock has changed a lot, I now have a pair of golden sebrights (one rooster and one hen). As juveniles they where inseparable. They are three years old now, and they are still close, but they don't rely on each other as much as they used to.

I also have triplet hens, barnyard mixes, who just began laying a couple weeks ago, and they are ALWAYS together, so much that I can't even tell them apart from each other.

I have one "odd" hen, who doesn't have another of the same breed, she was a rescue, and she is a loner (but does enjoy the company of people more than most of my chickens). She sleeps alone on the window sill of the coop.

It's very interesting how you have found this to be true in your flock as well, I thought it was a coincidence in my flock, lol.

It sure is interesting isn't it? I wonder why they do this.

I have 5 EE's, 5 Partridge Rocks, and 4 Buff Orps (lost 1, egg bound). They hang out, roost, & feed in groups. Plus they have similar personality traits. But my Roo is backwards. He's a Partridge Rock and he pays more attention to everybody else than his own breed. Typical man? lol

 

[Michael OShay]

Is it normal for my hens to segregate themselves by breed? They have been one flock since they hatched, but they have a tendency to clique with the sisters of the same breed. Is this normal?

Mine haven't usually segregated by breeds over the years, but there have been some exceptions where they did seem to do so.