Temperaments of different breeds?

[WoodlandWoman]

Some breeds aren't just more flighty or high strung, they're more aggressive, too. It doesn't mean the hens will attack you, but it may mean they'll pick on a more docile chicken. It can be harder to mix breeds with very different temperaments. Sometimes it works out fine and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes chickens kill each other. Some of that depends on the strain (bloodlines) or the individual bird, too, as well as the conditions they live in.

In general, I think you do better to go with all more docile temperaments or all more flighty/high-strung/assertive/aggressive, whatever you want to call it, temperaments in a flock. I usually go with a mix of the more laid-back heavy breeds. My neighbor goes with a mixed flock of light weight layers.

I forgot to add Henderson's chart. It's a good place to start, if you want information on what different breeds are like.

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

 

[chickenkate]

Thanks sooo much! Your comments have completely changed my choice of breeds; I'm thinking of Buff Orpingtons, Salmon Faverolles, and Old English Bantams!

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

Quote:
Oh, yes! Temprment couldn't be anymore diverse in my flock!

Docile=My Columbian Wyandotte
Hostile=My Mille Fluer d'Uccle for sure!
Friendly=WCB Polish, I love her.
Shy=BTB Jap

Out of mine, those are the most suited dispositions.

 

[Ellie_NY_chick]

None of mine are agressive. I think it could have been that way if they were left unhandled. My OEG roo is hostile to the other roos that have been around, but he is just protecting his girls, so I would call him "outgoing".

He's just as sweet as can be with me. I walk right up and pick him up and he nuzzles my cheek.

All my Silkies are somewhat freakish. They aren't hard to catch but they don't like being handled. I would call them flighty.

My Sumatra is a sweetie, but she doesn't tolerate being held. She's doesn't bother the others at all.

My Cochins are the first to boss the other hens and are the dominant girls in the flock. My lav Cochin will try to peck if she doesn't want to be bothered but not seriously.

Lastly, my Sultan is the meekest, and is at the bottom of the pecking order. She's sneaky though because when I had a feather picking problem, I was shocked to find out it was her doing the damage. She was standing on top of the nest boxes and when the girls would sit there trying to lay, she would yank the feathers out of their heads! You know what they say about payback...

Good luck. I think every birds has it's own personality and you can sell or rehome the ones that don't play well with others or don't work out for you!

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

If you raise your birds all together as chicks, then the different breeds won't matter - they should all get along together. It's when you go to add more chickens later as adults that you run into lots of problems with integrating them.

The chicken breeds & temperament that we have:

2 Leghorns - they will come up to us for treats & eat from our hands, but will run like crazy if you go to pick them up (just like what sandypaws said)

2 barred rocks - very inquisitive & bold, friendly, hops onto our laps, could be a bit intimidating if you have very small children

3 Easter Eggers - very friendly, gentle - two of them will come over to us to be picked up and love to be held (my favorites)

2 barnevelders - same as the leghorns

1 production red - very tame - will stand next to you and not run if you go to pick her up (we did try two more originally, but the other 2-3 week old production red checks were aggressive to their cagemates)

 

[WoodlandWoman]

When I had an aggression problem in a flock with mixed temperaments, they had all been raised together. They were fine until they got older. Sexual maturity can change flock dynamics.

 

[chickenkate]

But the more docile birds in your flocks aren't given a hard time, are they? I mean, I want all my birds to be comfortable with their buddies.

 

[Ryu]

The sweetest birds we have are our Bantam Modern games. The hennies are so sweet, I feed them out of my hand every night. They talk and talk when you hold them.

My standard Cornish are very laid back.

We have one Buckeye Roo who is a meat eater, but the rest have been docile.

 

[The Poultry Peanut]

I have 3 quail antwerps (2 males and 1 female) the hen is soooo sweet. She will follow me around the yard and boy does she talk but like I said quail antwerps are very sweet and tame. ( Roo's have an attitude of someone 10 feet tall)

 

[Texgran]

Quote:
Wait a minute...don't make up your mind just yet. I have to tell you about the speckeled sussex.
We received several pullets POL. I had australorp(one of my favs), orps, wyandotte, dominiques, barred rocks, california grey and various other breeds including the speckeled sussex. After about 2 days everytime I walked into the paddock the sussex would come hang out with me. I thought well, now aren't they a curious bunch. Within a week I could reach down and pick them up. Anytime someone would walk up to the fence they would head right over. They weren't getting feed from me at these times. I was amazed at the gentle sweet temperament of all the sussex girls. When I checked them out on line each description talked about their gentle nature. They are cool. Your family would enjoy them. The other breeds are sweet and friendly and good layers as well. Now the sussex will get broody which is nice if you want to raise some babies and let the family enjoy that. You don't even have to keep a rooster. When the hen gets broody put fertile eggs under her. You will have a friend with them or you can find some eggs from great breeds on this site for sale. Good Luck