Patridge bantam chicken poorly foot?

[Cinnamon]

At the moment I have 3 flocks of hens

 

My main flock of 4 year old big girls.

My 4 big newbies,although not THAT big as they are still fairly young.

And 5 bantams.

 

They are all in seperate parts of 2 pens, so they are sort of together,but split up,if that makes sense.

In my piccy below the 2 flocks of big hens are in seperate half of the big round area,& the bants live in the small round part.

 

Now,I need to mix the 2 flocks of big hens over the next couple of week,so they all end up in the main round pen & live in my gorgeous orange cube.

And it has occured to me that maybe the Bants could also go in with them,& that as I was merging 2 flocks it would be an ideal time to add the Bants to the merge as well

 

Then I would have the 2 round pens with the door open so they all have plenty of room, I can sell 1 Eglu & it would also give me a seperate intros pen for any future newbies.

 

My one concern is that a couple of the Bants are truly tiny little things & they will get picked on by the bigger hens.

 

I guess nothing ventured,nothing gained & I can always split them back up if it all goes pear shaped,can't I?

 

I would just love all my hens to live in the one Cube

 

Any comments?

[Egluntyne]

I'd go for it Sarah. They are well used to the sight and smell of each other, so you could go for phase 2 and let them free range and get used to sharing treats and see what happens. If you supervise, with a broom at the ready to sort out any really nasty squabbles then there should be no major difficulties.

 

As you say, if it doesn't work, you can revert to the status quo.

 

Good luck.

[Daphne]

Hi - I'm sort of in the midst of the same thing, tho I had 4 older girls (14-24 months, mix of LF and bants), 2 young bants (now 17weeks) and 3 young LF (now 18 weeks) all separate. It was so time consuming!!! Anyway, I lost one young bant so I put the other one with the LF youngsters. That didn't work too well - the LF are true teenagers and tho there was no pecking to speak of, they thought it was fun to chase the bant. So then I put the young bant in with the older girls on the basis there would be some smaller than her (mixed bants) and the LF is a sensible older girl. This is going OK but I have to keep an eye. Its OK at night as long as the bant gets in 'not last' - she's reluctant to go in when they're all established. During the day its ok when they are ranging but I've noticed peeks over the feeding bowls sometimes. Basically I'm having to keep an eye quite a bit, but I think it will work out. The relief the first night when they did seem to take to her was enormous. In a few weeks I'm planning to put the hooligans in with them too if they've calmed down a bit. They did pine when they saw her in with the older girls - lost their plaything! So, I would go for it - as you say you can always revert back if its not working out. My biggest trial is going to be when I have to leave them penned up.

[Cinnamon]

Hmmm - thats another consideration....mine are in the pen 24/7.

So no chance of them free ranging together first.

 

I think I will give it a bash in a week or so,& see what happens

[Egluntyne]

Hmmm - thats another consideration....mine are in the pen 24/7.

So no chance of them free ranging together first.

 

Aaah I didn't realise that.

 

Can you do the sprinkling of treats along the dividing lines for a day or two?

[The Dogmother]

You could give it a try Sarah, but it's possible that the banties will get a pasting be prepared to separate them again if they kick off - this is more likely to happen if they are kept in the run than free-ranging.

 

I don't know if you already have, but try getting some leafy branches and propping them up against the sides of the run to give the littlies somewhere to hide if they feel threatened.

 

Good luck

 

I will be getting some new bantams myself on Sunday, so have to get the rablu ready and move the buns into their luxury winter quarters.

[Cinnamon]

 

I will be getting some new bantams myself on Sunday, so have to get the rablu ready and move the buns into their luxury winter quarters.

 

 

Ooooo- how exciting.......what are you getting?

 

Lots of hidey holes & perches in my runs by the way, & I am fully expecting this NOT to work out,but figure its worth a try.

Of course I need to speak to Cleo about it first,as they are her Bantams. She could well object to them living with the big hens

[The Dogmother]

Pending my inspection when I go up there, I have reserved:

 

1 x lavender araucana bantam c 22 weeks

1 x white araucana bantam c 18 weeks

1 x Ancona bantam c 22 weeks

 

Lovely breeder in Stafford, I am going up there on Sunday afternoon... you can come along if you fancy a trip

[Egluntyne]

Can't wait to hear what you are going to call them.

[MedusA]

Lovely breeder in Stafford

 

Oooooh! Who's that, Clare? I always like to make a note of reputable breeders within easy reach (just in case of course, not thinking of getting any more chooks. )

 

I'd give it a go too, Sarah. I'm mid-merge. I've had my two Araucanas since they were 10 weeks. They were in an eglu+standard run, within the big walk-in run, so the other girls could get used to seeing them around. Last week I started letting them out to mingle with the the others, and despite the odd squabble, it's gone really well. If there are any real problems, you can always separate them and close the door between the runs for a while. Good luck.

[Cinnamon]

Pending my inspection when I go up there, I have reserved:

 

1 x lavender araucana bantam c 22 weeks

1 x white araucana bantam c 18 weeks

1 x Ancona bantam c 22 weeks

 

Lovely breeder in Stafford, I am going up there on Sunday afternoon... you can come along if you fancy a trip

 

Lovley - blue eggs again then

 

I would come but as a person of very little will power & no more room in the hen pen,I simply couldn't trust myself

[The Dogmother]

Lovely breeder in Stafford

 

Oooooh! Who's that, Clare? I always like to make a note of reputable breeders within easy reach (just in case of course, not thinking of getting any more chooks. )

 

I'd give it a go too, Sarah. I'm mid-merge. I've had my two Araucanas since they were 10 weeks. They were in an eglu+standard run, within the big walk-in run, so the other girls could get used to seeing them around. Last week I started letting them out to mingle with the the others, and despite the odd squabble, it's gone really well. If there are any real problems, you can always separate them and close the door between the runs for a while. Good luck.

 

I've got his details at home Medusa, so If I forget to PM them to you, give me a nudge. I found him on the pekinbantams.com forum where he posts as Whitestar. We had a long chat on the phone and he sounds like a very conscientious breeder.

 

Sarah.... I'll be your conscience Ahhhh, I get it... you don't want to be seen in the green van!

 

Egluntine, I am running out of songs and singers from my youth, well names I fancy anyroad. Rosie has some alternatives for this lot though, but I'm waiting to see what they look like. I usually have names for them by the end of the journey back

 

Sarah, sorry for hijacking your thread