when will my girls get along?

[heksa]

I have a flock of 10 chickens with three girls that are 3 months older then the rest. The older chickens are 7 months old and the younger 4 months old.

They sleep together in a coop, but otherwise keep to themselves in two groups.

Are they ever going to mingle?


Also

I have only one rooster. He is a Silkie and he is from the younger bunch.
Is he ever going to rise in the pecking order? Right now I think he is at the bare bottom, even among the young girls who are mostly EEs.
I used to have five more roosters (EEs), but we ate them.

Now I worry the lone Silkie won't stand up to his job.

Should I have kept one EE roo to protect the girls, or Silkie is going to manage its role?

 

[Dixiedoodle]

I doubt they will ever be buddies.. I have BO, BR, RIR, Ameraucana and Marans.. All the Ameraucanas stay together --they are all sisters (same breeder/same hatch), my Marans (sisters) stay together--usually away from the main flock.. Even the org. girls (BO, BR, RIR) stay with in their breed--the lone BR will move from the RIR and the BO.. Remember: "Birds of a feather, flock together" ... They don't fight --just don't seem interested in the other breeds.. They sleep in the same coop on one long roosting board but w/ their own sisters.

As far as your rooster.. I don't think many silkie roos to truely protect his flock from anything..

 

[chicmom]

I've had several groups of chicks I've raised, and as they mature, I put them together, but they alway seem to hang out with their little brooder pals. They do mingle more as time goes by, but you can definitely identify the separate groups.

As far as the silkie rooster is concerned, he will get alot more attitude once he reaches maturity, but being as he's small, I don't know how successful he'll be in the "mating" area. Bantam sized chickens really do have alot of spunk. Sometimes I really think they don't know they're smaller than everyone else! haha

I don't think a bantam sized rooster will be as good of a protector as a LF rooster, because size is an advantage when it comes to flock protection.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Probably to a certain extent, when they all mature. They will always seem to separate into small groups, some people think it is color but I think it is personality since the different breeds have different personality traits, but they should eventually mingle a lot more than they do now. My individual groups change when they all mature. The younger and older ones hang in separate groups, but once they mature, the makeup of the individual groups change. They will even change during the day.

Age is a huge consideration when they are younger. The older ones will pick on the younger ones so the younger ones stay away from the older ones. And think about the mall. How many groups of high school senior age girls do you see running around with freshman aged girls? When they mature they will mix, but not when they are young.

The Silkie rooster is still a baby. Would you expect an 8 year old boy to lead and protect a group of older women? Will he take on the role of flock protector? That depends on his personality, but probably yes he will, if given a chance to mature. He'll probably go through an adolescent stage before he matures enough to take on the adult role, but he will probably get there if given a chance. And don't be too surprised if the older girls really beat up on him while he is in that adolescent phase. Older hens seem to really enjoy beating up on the young roosters while they have the chance.

 

[heksa]

Thanks guys for your replies.

I guess it's OK if all the girls don't hang out together.
There is one (Dominique) that seems very dominant. She is pretty much taking on a rooster role, she is also the tamest and our favorite.

As far as rooster goes ... now I wish we kept one EE at least for protection.
The Silkie boy stopped crowing once the EEs started ... and even now when they are gone he has not crowed once. I miss the crowing and I hope he realizes soon he is supposed to be the king of the jungle now.

 

[elmo]

In my small flock of bantams, this year's batch of chickens is now beginning to truly integrate with last year's. I notice now when they roost that they won't just sit next to their clutch buddies. One of the younger hens is hangin' with the big girls in the daytime, too.

All of these chickens are either actually related to each other or look like they could be related. I've heard from other chicken keepers that a flock with mixed breeds often has a quite different dynamic.