Which breeds live well together?

[UrbanFarmerGreg]

As I am new to raising chickens and such I am wondering which breeds can live in the same coop together. Or which breeds do not go together at all? I currently have 2 young indian runner ducks, a breeding pair of Leghorns and I just bought 3 silkie chicks and they all live in seperate 'coops' can they go together in one coop now? or eventually? I am looking to add a few more hens that lay brown eggs and was wondering if any certain breed should be chosen or avoided... thanks

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

Great question. I'm curious what others have to say.

I do think that it sometimes boils down to the individual personality of each hen. I had an Easter Egger, Buff Orpington and a Jersey Giant. The EE always had it out for the BO and I finally just gave her away. I was really freaking out about just having the two hens and those two didn't seem to be buddies. But now that the EE bully is out of the picture, the BO and the JG are best buds and hang out together all day long. They are so sweet.

But the JG is a lot of bird for me and my little backyard. So I'll be adding two more BO's to my flock next spring. Such sweet and docile birds. Just love them.

 

[Illia]

They're fine together. Most breeds are. They will take a while to actually get a long though

It's best to introduce two groups ASAP so they establish a pecking order, otherwise you'll get fights. Fights will happen in adulthood though, so it is best to either let them deal it out or keep 'em separate, your choice. I always like my birds mixed together.

 

[UrbanFarmerGreg]

Ok... i"d rather keep all my birds together too but i wasn't sure so I will try the leghorns and runners together but I think I will wait til my silkies are a bit bigger as they are only 6 - 7 weeks old... or should I chuck them all together and see what happens or wait til I find a home for my rooster as I live in a city where roosters are not allowed and I don't want to draw any attention to myself. And when is a chicken considered an adult?

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I've had trouble raising docile heavy weight breeds with more aggressive light weight breeds on occasion, as they started to mature. I think it's better to go with one or the other. Especially if you have more birds and the various breeds make up little sub-flocks within the larger flock. I think they actually get along better in the small flocks with just a few birds, one of each. Usually I just go with more docile breeds in the mix.

Henderson's breed chart is an interesting read for some general information on breeds.

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

 

[Tikkijane]

Here's my observation:

We have:

*3 Barred Rocks
*3 Buff Orpingtons
*1 Production Red
*6 Easter Eggers

Out of all of these- all 3 of my barred rocks peck the others when there is food involved. It's not so much at the regular feeder, but we give BOSS on a regular basis (to try to boost the protein) and yogurt, and they hit the others really, really hard.

No idea if that happens across the board, but since all three of mine are doing it and are aggressive like that, I thought I would mention it. They don't peck each other, fwiw. I have taken to giving them several containers of everything we give, because otherwise, they don't let any of the others get to it. the only exception is for the one BO, who is the flock mistress.

Fwiw, ymmv. I've heard from some that chickens are color blind and all do well with each other, but I'm also interested to see what others have to say.

Tikki

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I have a ton of different chicken breeds in with each other. Everything from a teeny tiny (spunky) banty, to white leghorns, to rhode island reds, turkens, brahmas and cochins. The ones that you should worry about sticking together are ones that are seriously different, like polish or silkies. They may get picked on. "Normal" breeds should be fine together, in my opinion.

I also have ducks, but they are separate from the chickens due to the incredible mess they make with their water.

 

[Tikkijane]

Quote:
AFAIK, once they hit a year, they are no longer pullets and cockerels; they are now hens and roos.

 

[chickenjoe12]

Well I started out with 1pekin hen 2 frizzle polish and a buff Orpington cockeral and the get on fine but then I introduce 5 mille flure booted bantams they went different ways in the pen and 1 of the fp's chased them a bit but finally the 2 cockerals and 3 girls mfbb join flocks and now I've introduce a Brahma hen who is bigger than the bo!so the mfbb have to jump to peck at but she has now settle down with the flock.And I septerated the cockerals and now I have 4 fp x bo and my flock might get bigger soon (I'm English so I say cockerals)

 

[Buffy18]

So I have a Polsih and a Easter Egger, I was wondering since they are best buds, If I should add a silkie into the mix cause I just love a variety. Good idea or no?