Pros/Cons of multi breed flock

[pdirt]

Agreed, I don't see any roosters.

Some hens will sometimes take on the role of a rooster...they'll crow (sort of), watch out for the flock for predators, find food for them, even mount the hens. I haven't seen it myself yet, but have read enough about it to know it can and does happen!

 

[A2Kzoo2]

Are there any breed combinations that should be avoided?

 

[lazy gardener]

I would not choose to have bantams with large fowl birds. The mediterranean birds ( most are white egg layers) tend to be more flighty, and have a reputation of being more aggressive. that being said, I have 3 Rose comb brown leghorns in my mixed flock, and find that they are flighty, and one of them absolutely won't stay in a fence, they are no more aggressive than any of my other birds. I don't think I'd choose them in a small coop/run situation.

 

[donrae]

The breeds that seem to have issues are heavily crested birds like Polish, and silkies. Pretty much all your dual purpose breeds are going to get along fine.

 

[OmAnNom]

We have or have had RIR's, Ameraucanas, silkies, Araucanas, marraduna basques, French Marans, Wyandottes, Swedish ducks, mallard ducks, Peking ducks a naughty Scottish Terrier and 60,000 or so honey bees all in a 1/4 acre space with no major issues with them getting along. There was that one time when the dog stuck her nose in a bee hive though. The pro for us is a colorful egg rack and a seemingly endless supply of honey but that's for another forum. The big thing is they have lots of room. If we introduce a new pair that the flock doesn't accept they can simply walk to the other side of the yard, but eventually everyone is accepted and they roam together. When there are issues between two or more birds and the submissive one/s can't escape that's where you will have problems. Good luck!

 

[FishNFowl]

I love your colorful egg collection - and the bee hive! I'm hoping to have a mixed flock as well. My wife has already said that she wants a mix of different eggs.

You're years ahead of me. I'm going from veggie garden to chicken coop to bee hive, while planting fruit trees along the way. I'm currently at the coop stage. The bee hive will have to wait until the chickens are figured out.

From what I'm reading it sounds like for the most part mixing breeds is OK, as long as they have plenty of room and they're reasonably close in size?

 

[OmAnNom]

That is exactly how we started. It is always an evolution. First the garden, then two chickens... then some more chickens. One day while I was out of town the wife brought home two ducklings... then there were more ducklings. Then a bigger garden. Then bees. Then a bigger garden. Ha, you get the picture. The learn-as-we-grow process have really served us well and we wouldn't have done it any differently. ENJOY IT.

Space and introducing in pairs is what we have most taken away from a mixed flock. We have't had much of a size issue, but that was something we were really concerned about in the beginning. Now, our largest chicken (Copper Maranas) is best friends with our smallest (Silkie). I think it's kind of like raising kids. You have all of these ideas and expectations before their born, but as you experience them for yourselves, they break all of the "rules" the experts have laid out for their predefined characteristics and behaviors and teach us a few things on the way