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

[MariaB]

Hi there,

 

Been to see my chicken lady today to check out what breeds I want. Have decided (I think) to get a Light Sussex, a Maran and a Black Rock for the large girls and I really fell in love with the little bantams while I was there. So thinking or also geting a Buff orp and a Wynadotte which were gorgeous. Has any one got a mix of large and small and do they all get on. The lady said there should be no problem and then I spoke to a friend who has a mostly large hens and one bantam and she said the bantam was top girl. She could hold her own, no probs. Thought I would get the bantams for my little girl as they are meant to be good with kids. Any one got any advice before I leap in and experience little people syndrome amongst the chicken world (No offense to little people intended, but you know what I mean). Thanks

[Mrs Webmuppet]

I have two bantams and one hybrid chook. They all came from the same breeder at the same time and get along just fine but I think it depends on the chickens. Bumble treats the bantams as if they were here chicks despite al being the same age.

[superjules]

If you're going to mix them you need to have feisty bantams and easy going big ones rather than the other way round. Pecking order amongst ours seems to be based largely upon the order in which they started laying, although how they knew who was going to start next is beyond me! I was told the wyandotte, pekin, OEG are all fine to mix with big girls, although you need to be careful with intro's.

 

Our pekin is our smallest chook and probably 3rd out of 8 chooks in the pecking order. I now wish I'd got more pekins at the time as they are fab little birds and DD aged 4 loves Yum-yum to bits. She was very easy to tame and just the right size. My Wyandotte is very aloof and doesn't like being handled so the kids aren't interested in her at all!

 

[Abbey Road Girl]

Adorable picture, Super Jules! Two happy critters!

[Eyren]

I would second superjules's comments - Wyandotte bantams look beautiful but are not very friendly, so would not make an ideal pet for the kids (though they mix well with larger hens as they generally keep aloof from chicken politics!).

 

Pekins and miniature Orpingtons would be better options. Orps are very placid, and presumably the bantam versions are quite big, since the standard ones are enormous. Pekins are very tame with humans, and although they are small they are generally good at standing up to larger chickens - a lady I visited recently said that her pekin cockerels are more than a match for the full-sized Orpington boys

 

I did have problems introducting two pekins to an established group, but I think it was just that my top hen took against one of them - if you get all of yours at once, they will all be on an equal footing to begin with, which usually means rather less squabbling over the pecking order

 

Have fun, whatever you decide!

[Egluntyne]

There is a great of mixed advice about mixing bantams with larger hens.

 

It can be disastrous or they can all get along famously.

 

Very much the luck of the draw.

 

I imagine that if they all start off in your flock together they should be OK.

 

Later intros might be a problem.

[MariaB]

Thanks for all your replies. Loves the photo superjules. My daughter is 5 so hopefully she will enjoy her clover, as she has already named hers, as much as your daughter enjoys yum yum.

think I will take the plunge and get a mix but maybe not the wyandotte after all.

[superjules]

Good call on the wyandotte. Saying that, I don't regret getting mine because she is a character and a fantastic layer, but if I were choosing purely for the kids it would be pekins all the way. She lays eggs for 4 days then has a day off, so she does pull her weight, bless her little feathery feet!

[KimW]

We have a Silkie / Buff Sussex cross bantam that we got at the same time as the big girls.

She is fine with them but we recently bought two Polish bantams and the big girls don't like them so they are in their own house and run.

 

I guess it's all in the timing.

[One_Box]

The bantams definitely rule the roost in this house although they only meet up with my chooks when free ranging. There is still quite a bit of chasing and pecking although my girls are only about 18 weeks and very placid. I was advised not to try to house the two groups together by a very experienced dealer and breeder.

[twix]

my first pet hen as a girl was a blue laced wyandotte bantam "little red hen". I now have 5 mixed LF and one one-eyed (born like that) blue wyandotte bantam. She gets on fine with the others and uses her small size to her advantage to get inbetween the others to get to treats.

it works for me.