Tips/Advice for Raising Friendly Chickens

[LadyVictorian]

I know my two tetrabrown pullets are feisty because of their crossing, they have 2 feisty breeds in them but they are normally very sweet once I hold them. My coworker raised leghorns back in the day and he said those hens were mean. They would peck at you when you went to catch them and scratch and bite. I had a red sexlink hen myself who was utterly sweet and loving, but I watched my neighbors red sexlink hens for a week and one of the hens came at me almost every night when I put her away. Breed and even the individual can give you super nice or super mean hens and even roosters. However the fact they are yellow and a sexlink makes me concerned. yellow/white are boys in the sexlinks like Golden and red sexlinks. Could you post a picture? The more red ones are the females. They didn't have another breed in there did they? Maybe pullet leghorns? If it was a leghorn that would make sense because the hatchery leghorn girls can be a little bit feisty. That has been the only chick I have been bitten by so far at work.

 

[Oddball Flock]

I know my two tetrabrown pullets are feisty because of their crossing, they have 2 feisty breeds in them but they are normally very sweet once I hold them. My coworker raised leghorns back in the day and he said those hens were mean. They would peck at you when you went to catch them and scratch and bite. I had a red sexlink hen myself who was utterly sweet and loving, but I watched my neighbors red sexlink hens for a week and one of the hens came at me almost every night when I put her away. Breed and even the individual can give you super nice or super mean hens and even roosters. However the fact they are yellow and a sexlink makes me concerned. yellow/white are boys in the sexlinks like Golden and red sexlinks. Could you post a picture? The more red ones are the females. They didn't have another breed in there did they? Maybe pullet leghorns? If it was a leghorn that would make sense because the hatchery leghorn girls can be a little bit feisty. That has been the only chick I have been bitten by so far at work.

My memory is kind of bad but I want to say I don't think the golden sexlinks were mixed with any others but I could be wrong. I might have to go back down to TSC to see but that won't be anytime soon.

Here is my little grumpy butt

 

[trsutton82]

Even with baby chicks if you stay in the coop with them and pet them and hand feed them chick starter they will love you.

This is what I have been doing with mine and even my 7yo does it. A couple of the chicks will sit in the laps of my kids. My 3yo won't hold his hand long enough to let them eat from it, but he throws food to them, so they're getting used to him. They're almost 4 weeks old now. Hubs is still working on it. lol. He works 12-hr shifts, so chick time is more limited.

 

[ChxLadyCass]

I have 6, 2 week old chicks. Could I add more younger chicks to my flock without worrying the others will bully?

It may be risky, but also may be worth a try. All 5 of mine were introduced to one another within a week and had no problems at all because there was no pecking order and they were toodistracted just getting settled into the world. Just like introducing new chicks to an established flock, I would try it slowly and safely. maybe bring your new chicks into the brooder but separated. Then I would just observe and see if the older chicks care at all. I would definitely have a plan B though as someone suggested to me.

 

[LadyVictorian]

My memory is kind of bad but I want to say I don't think the golden sexlinks were mixed with any others but I could be wrong. I might have to go back down to TSC to see but that won't be anytime soon.

Here is my little grumpy butt

Any chance they were amberlinks? Amberlinks are yellow. Otherwise that be a boy golden sexlink T.T

 

[Oddball Flock]

Any chance they were amberlinks? Amberlinks are yellow. Otherwise that be a boy golden sexlink T.T

Sorry it's been a while. Just got back home from a trip. I'm sure the sign said golden sexlinks. I may be stopping by TSC today, I'll double check. It would explain alot if it was a boy. We came home saturday and i had picked him/her up and he/she was a little more mellow.

 

[HannahZuni]

You could depending how old they are. We have some almost 2 month olds and just got 6 day old silkies, so we put a bit of chicken wiring, but for the silkies they get the heat lamp. to separate the two ages so that they get use to each other. If you put them together without doing that the bigger ones will maybe peck and hurt the little ones.

 

[Backyard Hencam]

A few years back we had a Silver-laced Wyandotte who was super aggressive. She nearly killed a Buff Orpington at about six weeks. I had to keep her in a separate brooder. I was sure she was a rooster. At about 4 most. I slowly introduced her to the flock for a couple hours a day. The good news is she settled down and turned out to be one of my best hens. I believe she was a little more high-strung than the other chicks. Best of luck. Be patient.