4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[glorious chickens]

Hi in about 4-5months time i will be adding 8 hens to my 4 existing girls i was consideriing getting a range of different breeds probably 2 birds of 4 different breeds i first saw rhode island reds which look good have a good laying rate and i just liked them hehe but then i heard they can be really aggressive and be bullies, is this true?? i would like 2 rhodes hehe but i dont think i will be if they are aggressive and bullies. Please tell me ive heard wrongly lol.

Thanks in advance

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I've got one and she's not aggressive at all . She's really sweet . I think often it's just down to personality rather than breed. (Having said that, I've never introduced her to anyone new, so I don't know how she'd behave then .)

[alih]

I have one and though she is top chook she is always the nicest to new chickens I introduce. They are lovely hens

[Barkisland]

Gilda, my RIR, was a bit pecky with the others when we first started out. She quickly emerged as a contender for top chook position. We had to fit her with a bumper bit as she was going for the Cream Legbar in quite a big way. The bumper bit did the trick beautifully, it recently fell off, and there have been no more problems with her. She is a beautiful bird.

[glorious chickens]

Phew im really pleased to hear that, thanks for all your replies and so fast hehe. and thank god for omlet hehe i wouldnt know where to go with out it :D just one question though whats a bumper

[Barkisland]

A bumper bit is a plastic beak clip which can be fitted on a hen's beak to stop her from pulling the feathers out of other birds.

See here: viewtopic.php?t=22584

[glorious chickens]

Oh right ok then thanks do they work and do they just fall off or do you take them off if so when do you know when to take them off

[Redwing]

If fitted correctly they should stay on for a while, some people have reported that three months is not unusual.

 

Once the bumper bit has fallen off the hen may forget the habit but sometimes you need to fit another bumper bit if they havent

[glorious chickens]

oh right ok then thanks a lot i think ill get some on them just in case

[Barkisland]

Gilda's bumper bit stayed on for at least 6 months, and I recently found it in the run. They wear down and eventually snap and fall off. Gilda seems to have forgotten about pecking the others now, she is as good as gold!