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are chickens racist?

1K views 10 replies 10 participants last post by  Alder 
#1 ·
I know it is an odd question but here is why I ask, I had 3 different colors of chickens a black and gold colored set a yellow colored set and a red colored set. The black and gold chicken only flocked with each other, but I put that off as them being a year older then the other chickens, they already had a bonded flock so were not interested in the new birds. But the red birds and the yellow birds who were brooded together tended to flock by color as well. Not as exclusively as the black and gold but still notably. So what I am wanting to know is if this color preference is normal?

If there is a color preference, could a normal flock be established by a small number of several colors (a rainbow flock if you will) I would like to have more color in my new flock (long story why my old birds are gone) but I don’t want them braking off in groups of 1 or 2 and making them self's predator bait. (I do a form of limited free ranging)
 
#3 ·
My experience is that birds tend to divide into sub-flocks, mostly based on being of like age, then of being like size, then of being like colors. If you have a single that is very different, they may have a hard time finding anyone with whom to pal around. My hens brood eggs selected from the general flock, and as they generally raise their chicks exclusively for about 8 - 12 weeks, those chicks tend to become their own sub-flock. They will gradually form the main flock as the older hens age out and they become layers.
 
#9 ·
The old saying is:

"Birds of a feather flock together."

From wiktionary.org:

Etymology
The expression appears to have surfaced in the 16th century, allegedly a literal translation of Plato's Republic. In 1545, William Turner wrote a version of the expression in the Rescuing of Romish Fox: "Byrdes of on kynde and color flok and flye allwayes together."

One can, however, also compare the expression to Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 27:10: "Birds resort unto their like."
 
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#10 ·
It may go much deeper than just coincidence. There are advantages to be had by herd animals from having uniform color, the oddball is easy to target. A predator in pursuit needs to target one animal to be successful, watch any African nature show and you will see this. Notice that the gnus are all one color and the zebras are another, and they all hang together. Probably easier to regroup afterwards as well. It's hard to say that this is deep instinct for chickens, as they were all BBR at one point. But, their BBR ancestors went through color shifts with age and it was gender related, and there were advantages to be had by sticking together in those groups.

Also remember that the powers of facial recognition are very well developed in chickens, they can recognize up to a hundred individuals by face alone, it is probably safe to assume that feather color plays in, and with the detail that they are capable of recognizing, they may pick up on things that we don't. Also remember, that their range of vision is different than ours, and the UV reflection of some of those feather colors probably looks much different when viewed through their eyes.

For many years I purchased assortments from different hatcheries. They were shipped as day olds and brooded together. When grown, it always surprised me to see the barred rocks hanging in one little group, the white rocks in another, and the austrolorps in another and so on. Another possibility is that these birds recognize each other from voice in the incubator, but with some of the large hatcheries this is unlikely, they are getting shuffled around pretty good during sexing and boxing.

I have seen many times with my games, a loose hen will fend off the advances of a "barnyard" rooster in favor of one of her own kind. At roost, she will usually fly to a pen containing a rooster of her kind and perch on top, if it is mating season.

Also remember that chickens are very brutal and primal animals, they don't need much of a reason to dislike each other. While not engaging in outright combat, not scratching around with a certain bird or group of birds could be a form of passive aggression.

I have some skinhead chickens, I believe this one is in a gang. You have to intervene early if you don't want your chickens to be racists, or to be involved with gang activity. Once they start hanging with the wrong flock, it is too late.
Bird Beak Feather Ibis Art
 
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