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[lws]

Hi, I am new to chooks. Have just got a cube with two hybrid white stars and three Pekin Bantums. All is well, except one of the hybrids is bullying the bantums. So far no blood shed and i am confident they are all eating, but i dont know if i made the riht decision to have mixed breeds. Should i have stuck to one or the other. Should i intenvene or leave alone. Any advise would be welcom. Thank you.

[Bondinho]

Hi and welcome to the forum

 

My advice would be to stick with it and intervene when necessary, if no blood has been shed yet then leave them to it but keep an eye on them. If it continues and is getting worse then try to separate the bully for a while so the other one can settle in a bit easier. Maybe let them free range too so there is plenty of space to run away in?

 

Bantams can be successfully mixed with hybrids, sometimes you are lucky and it works out straight away - other times it needs a bit of supervision.

 

Good luck

[Egluntyne]

Generally the advice is not to mix bantams with hybrids.......and you have found out why the hard way.

 

Some henkeepers, however have managed to do it successfully.

 

All you can do is wade in if it gets ugly, and try to keep the peace.

 

I would isolate any really vicious bully for a while if you have to, and if anyone gets injured, maybe separate them too. Any blood....spray the wound with Purple Spray (Gentian violet) to disguise the redness which will attract more pecks, and it is also an antiseptic.

 

Good luck. I'm sure it will all calm down eventually.

[Eyren]

Hi lws, I sympathise with your problem - I'm trying to integrate two pekins with my three other bantams, and it definitely isn't going as smoothly as previous introductions

 

Some hybrids take to bantams just fine and seem to treat them like chicks, whereas others just exploit the opportunity to throw their weight around, and it's impossible to be sure in advance how it will go.

 

My "top hen", though technically a bantam, is I think a bantam/large fowl cross as she's rather large and is bullying the new girls somewhat. I'm hoping she'll settle down, but if not, I'll have to find a new home for her - the same may be true for your pekins. If I had a bit more space I'd offer to swap

[lws]

Thanks for your replys, they seem to be settling in now.

My children absolutely love the chickens, spend most of Sunday in the run with them on their laps.

Had three eggs already, which was so exciting for my son who found the first one, he came running in so fast, the egg narrowly escaped being dropped. Next morning came the questions about how the egg comes out so clean !! That was an interesting conversation over breakfast.

Have felt a bit sorry for them in this awfull weather, have got a cover, but the rain is driving sideways. Have ordered a bigger cover from Omlet, but they are quoting two weeks delivery! Spring will arrive before the cover does - maybe.

[BarbaraJ]

I havent got an eglu or a cube but i took on board people saying they used clear plastic sheeting from dunhelm mill. Sounds like a great idea for my uncovered area next winter

[Hen Watch]

Have ordered a bigger cover from Omlet, but they are quoting two weeks delivery! Spring will arrive before the cover does - maybe.

 

I've got the Omlet winter shade but on top of it I've also got a cheap plastic shower curtain on top with some bungee ropes to tie it down.