druids57 Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 Hi Ive spent a wonderful morning out at Chalk Hill Poultry farm looking at the different chickens and bantams - how do you ever choose? I love the sussex light and speckled bantams and the silkies but also fell in love with buff orpingtons which I know have bantam versions. I wonder if anyone keeps both sussex and orpington bantams or knows if they are similar in size as i really wanted a flock of similar sizes. Any bantam sizes and compatibility advice would be welcomed Thanks a million Druid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gentle1973 Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 Oh we've just got some bantams this afternoon, but I phoned Chalk Hill and they told me they had nothing! We got a millefleur and a blackrock, and have put our names down for two frizzles! Wendy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
druids57 Posted March 22, 2008 Author Share Posted March 22, 2008 Hi Wendy I think I may have mislead you we went to look at the chickens and bantams but we knew the bantams for sale wouldnt be ready till May. At the moment they gorgeous but are just about three weeks old which is why I asked the questions about size. Lucky you having yours I have to wait! Druid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Webmuppet Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 I have two bantams and one hybrid hen, they came from the same breeder ( at the same time) and get on really well. The hybrid thinks the two bantams are chicks and treats them as such (comical to watch). As for size the bantams are roughly half the size of a 'normal' chicken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyren Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 Where did you get your bantams from, Mrs WP? I don't have space for any more atm, but one of these fine days we will probably move somewhere with a bigger garden (the OH confided today that he'd always fancied keeping bees ), so I'm always on the lookout for recommendations druids57, re your original question, bantams vary in size quite a lot. I assume orpington bantams are on the large side, but I'm not sure - we have someone here who keeps them (The Bantam of the Opera), but I haven't seen her around lately. Anyway, true bantams (those with no large fowl counterpart), such as pekins and sebrights, tend to be on the small side (about wood pigeon size), whereas miniatures of large breeds tend to be a bit larger (about half the size of a standard chicken). You can see in Mrs Webmuppet's photo that the Light Sussex bantam at the front is a good bit chunkier than the lavender pekin behind her. Re temperament, in my experience pekins are quite bold for their size but very friendly and easy to tame; bantam wyandottes are all mouth and no trousers Large fowl vary enormously in their tendency to get on with bantams. If they are used to them (like Mrs Webmuppet's) or are fairly placid in temperament, they can be fine, but some take a dislike to them and can be quite nasty. The problem is that chickens, being omnivorous, have a tendency to attack anything substantially smaller than themselves: quail, guinea pigs, etc. They will even kill (and try to eat) mice and frogs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Webmuppet Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 My chooks came from the Hen House @ Thorndon near Eye (in Suffolk).I can highly recommend them......they provide telephone support with your chickens. Any problems or worries just pick up the phone and they will provide advice. They have quite a range of chickens and were very helpful when it came to choosing our chooks ( and kept the OH away from more exotic & tricky to keep chooks) Snowy is a Columbian Pekin Bantam (and is all fluffy)and Scurry is a Lavender Pekin Bantam. Under the fluff Snowy is about the same size as Scurry. They do look very funny flapping across our tiny lawn & Bumble ( the Columbine) gets very cross with them if they wander off .......... Our bantams were used to hanging out with the bigger chickens as they were free ranging in a mixed flock...........a sight to behold -all shapes & sizes just bimbling around ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superjules Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 Re temperament, in my experience pekins are quite bold for their size but very friendly and easy to tame; bantam wyandottes are all mouth and no trousers I'd second that - my dainty little pekin won't take any nonsense from other chooks, regardless of size, I dread to think what she's going to be like once she starts laying. My Wyandotte (who is built like a Russian shot-putter) is far too business-like about eating and laying eggs to get involved in chook-politics. My bantam buff plymouth rock has yet to develop a personality, bless her, but she's still very immature!! If you want bantams because you don't want them to trash your garden, pekins are a good bet as they have little legs. My Wyandotte sends Easibed flying higher than any of my hybrids can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyren Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 My chooks came from the Hen House @ Thorndon near Eye (in Suffolk).I can highly recommend them...... Aha! I got my wyandotte bantams from him a couple of years ago. Mad as a spoon, he is, but very friendly! And the number of different breeds was mind-boggling - he has several acres just given over to their pens and housing. It would be interesting to go back there, now I know a bit more about pure-bred chickens... My DH was drooling over his gorgeous hen-houses, but thankfully we already had the eglu by then - since I'm the one who has to clean it out, I'd really rather not have the bother of a wooden one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Webmuppet Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 The Hen House had all sorts of breeds - big ones, little ones and everysize in between. But as you say mad as a hatter. He obviously loves his chickens, they were all so beautiful. He had some Orpington bantams the other day (when Snowy had to go back for a check up for the sneezes).......we don't have room for any more at the moment. His chicken houses are lovely too but rather expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
druids57 Posted March 23, 2008 Author Share Posted March 23, 2008 HiThanks for your advice and picture of that lovely family Guess my best bet is to wait a few weeks and go and have a look at the bantams when they are more the right size. I have looked That hen house place has a beautiful website and beautiful houses might just have to go and have a look Thanks Druid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...