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

[Margalot]

Just a quick question,

 

I have 3 hybrid birds that had to have bumper bits fitted a while ago due to bald bottoms.

 

I know someone who has started off with hybrids and now has some pure breeds and he says that the pure breeds are much less aggresive than his hybrids?

 

I am thinking to the future and wondered if this was true?

 

I wouldnt mind my next hens being pure breeds as the egg production is not the be all and end all for me, we cannot give enough eggs away at the moment, so fewer eggs wouldnt be a problem.

 

What are your experiences with this???

[katieD]

personally i think the hybrids do tend to be a bit more bolshy- not sure if this is always true but my pure breeds are definately bottom of the pecking order!

[Falkor]

Although my Splash Orp is top chook she rules in a very calm manner. Her lady in waiting in another Orp who although can tend to wade in and shoulder barges to break up skirmishes, she has never pecked or attacked anyone else that I have seen

 

The Hybrids which are numbers three and four in my flock on six are quite bolshy and peck first and think later.

 

The top chook Orps were also much more relaxed and accepting of the newbies, Brandy and Saffy. Whereas the hybrids took exception to them and generally bullied them for a while. I put this down to the hybrids not wanting to loose their status in the pecking order.

 

I have bantams too and the pure breed Pekins i have seem to be the opposite of my pure breed Orps with one currently in the sin bin for generally being a pain in the bum!

[Redwing]

I have to say that I wont be getting any more hybrids, I had so many pecking problems with my first lot

 

I ended up putting the hybrids in with the table birds as the sheer size of the table birds kept them in check!

 

I have still had to odd problem with the pure breeds with an attack by a pure breed on another pure breed which left the second bird terribly injured but I still believe that everything runs smoother with the pure breeds

[Jools]

I tend to think that hybrids are more active in that they're hungrier birds because of their egg laying prowess. I certainly noticed that my two were a lot more destructive in the garden than anything else I had. In fact I've noticed that in general, the better the layer, the more they scratch up the grass for tasty morsels. So if may be the activity of the bird that makes them more of a handful with others. My two hybrids were quickly put in their place by my stroppy bantams though - it's quite funny watching a little OEG hen duff up two big girls at once! Maybe that's the answer lol!

 

The other plus with pure breeds is that they aren't quite so highly bred for egg laying, so they tend to go on laying (living) that bit longer too. And of course, there are so many beautiful ones to choose from!

[The Dogmother]

I can't say that I have ever had any problems with any of my pure breeds. I've only ever fitted bumper bits onto hyrbids, never pure breeds.

 

Perhaps that is the answer.

[Patricia W]

My Phillipa is a pure breed - and can be a proper little bolshy madam. Whereas two of my others are sweetness and light.

 

I have come to the conclusion they all have their individual personalities so difficult to make generic statements. That's what makes them so interesting!

 

Tricia

[Jools]

Amen

[ubereglu]

I started with hybrids and later got a couple of pure breeds. My bluebelles are lovely and big softies, although they do sometimes have stand offs every now and again, but nothing too major. Spice is a barnevelder and lovely, she's easily spooked though.

 

I also have Molly, who can be very nasty and got particularly bad during the summer and pecked everyone, but the bluebelles have sorted her out now.

[WarrensWorld]

Our Warrens are absolute ladies, never had any pecking or nastiness. There was me thinking that hybrids were bred to be well behaved.....

[The Dogmother]

They are.... generally..... but some can be plain nasty. Black stars can be the worst.

 

It just depends really - one hatch can be fine and the next can be hell bent on being cannibals!

[TAJ]

I have two hybrids and four pure breeds. I have only had egg laying problems/partial prolapse/egg shell issues with the hybrids never the pure breeds. As to character one hybrid is a pecker to the others, but lovely with humans, the second hybrid is one of my friendlist chickens and never pecks the others. Equally I have a pure breed who also pecks the others and others that don't - so I wouldn't say I have a pure breed/hybrid split related to character/pecking.

 

Tracy

[Janty]

Apart from the silly Rhodies, my pure breeds are definitely the most easy going chickens. The brahmas sort out any problems but are never aggressive. The hybrids are much noisier and more pecky (although no serious problems) than the pure breeds. I think that in future I will only buy pure breeds.

 

Of course, in my dreams (after a lottery win) I will have 3 huge walk in runs just for specific breeds. One for the brahmas, one for cochins and another for my little pekins.

 

[Clarabelle]

I'm really interested in this thread as I'm hoping to replace a hybrid with a couple of pure-breeds soon.

 

Our gingernut ranger, who was sadly pts a couple of weeks ago with peritonitis, was a real bully and continued to feather-peck our Miss Pepperpot, despite being fitted with a bumper bit.

 

Clarabel is now regrowing her feathers, but it's going to take a long time for her to get them all back and I'm worried that she'll stay bald in some places.

 

I really want to try and avoid peritonitis again as it was really horrible and I guess it is probably more common in hybrids as they are egg-laying machines.

 

I'm currently trying to acquire a silkie and the lady also has a white leghorn - anyone have any comments on the behaviour of these breeds? I've already read that silkies are really gentle and that white leghorns can be a bit mad!

 

Cheers!

[The Dogmother]

You're right abotu the mad bit! leghorns are really pretty and affectionate though. Silkies just love to be broody and would sit on a baked bean if you put one in the nest!

[Karen & co.]

My two white leghorns are completely bonkers very skitty and flighty in fact OH refers to them as the "flighty whities" but unfortunately not at all friendly

 

They were handled quite a lot when we first got them, but they hated it, and now the only way to pick them up is after dark They won't eat from our hands either, and are the only hens we have that have never done this Nice white eggs though, and easy to spot when they are at the bottom of the garden

 

Karen x

[chickencam]

My White Star was like that, she even pulled her own feathers out despite also having them pulled out by one of the Pepperpots. Bertha out Light Sussex isn't friendly and is very skitish but she has been a reliable layer and never a bully. We have had no bullying problems with our 5 new hybrids and I hope that it stays that way.

[Lewis]

I aggree about Black Stars being aggressive, Matilda + Theodore are with the new chickens, but are really good with us, will come running over and eat out of my hand.

 

Babs (Pekin Bantam) was really bad ... Matilda has one and a half wings now because of it but thought she was a dog and would come in and watch the tele if the door was left open

[Valkyrie]

I can't comment on the hybrids, but I agree that the Orpies are in control - our Splash is also Queen Bee, while the blue muscles in. They peck at the other two, but have never seemed to make contact (perhaps in the early days is possible) - certainly never drawn blood. In fact they only have to look in the direction of the Sussex to make her squawk (dopey bird). There is a certain amount of bullying by the big girls when they get locked in the run for their tea - which is probably why we have to chase the Maran around the garden to get her in. But as the little one's weights are fine, they obviously are still getting enough to eat (plus their huge crops give the game away).

Egg laying abilities by the big two were enough for us, and we chose them because of the feathers more than their ability to lay although both have stopped now - the youngun's are only just being weaned onto the layers. I haven't bought in eggs yet - might have to next week though. Also I read that hybrids stop laying sooner whereas there is more of a steady decline with the breeds. They aren't very noisy, but the Splash whinges an awful lot (which is usually before she marches off to the cube to lay) and they only bok loudly when something frightens them, which is a relief because I thought they would be doing that on more or less a daily basis when they laid eggs. I have yet to find out whether the two babes will do that!