Patridge bantam chicken poorly foot?

[crazychicken]

Hello everyone,

does anyone have any experience of introducing bantams to a flock of chickens?

we have 3 hybrids, full size, all very friendly and get on well, we are thinking of getting 1 or 2 bantams. Am a bit worried that the hybrids will think they are lunch on legs!

Would initially be able to keep them separately where they could see each other but that could only really be a temporary solution. They would need to sleep together. They do free range but when we are out tend to keep them in their run which is 12x6 ft.

What does anyone think?

[Egluntyne]

Please don't try to introduce just one bantam to a flock of adult hybrids.....they will marmalise it.

 

It would be better to add two, or even three, to dilute the inevitable unwanted attention.

 

Why not have a look at **these articles** about managing introductions for some tips.

 

Many advise agaist keeping bantams and full sized chickens together, but others manage it successfully.

 

Slow and steady is the least traumatic way.

[Chickens@61]

we keep two bantams with three full size hybrids, and they are a very happy little flock

 

it was a slighlty different situation for us, as we had the bantams first and then introduced the big girls.. we did the introductions slowly, and were lucky enough to avoid any real squabbles -but the bantams were VERY nervous of their new friends for quite some time..

 

i would say definately don't try to introduce just one bantam, maky sure you take things really slowy, and also consider what you will do if things don't work out and you end up needing to house the two groups separately?

 

hope that helps,

[Tweety]

You would have to take things very slowly, and definitely introduce more than one. I really don't think it would be wise to have the bantams sleeping with the big girls until they have gone through a long introduction as recommended by Egluntine, so you would need suitable separate housing for them. I introduced 6 bantams to my big girls over the course of 2 months or so, but kept them separate at night throughout that time although they were all free-ranging together during the day. Eventually the bantams chose to sleep with the big girls even though they had their own separate eglu.

[Janty]

Slowly is definitely the best advice. I have bantams and hybrids and big girls. They all get on well but whenever I get new chickens, I always keep them in the eglu and run for at least three weeks with the others free ranging around them.

 

I introduced my son's RIR miniatures to my lot last April in this way and the only problem we have had is recently when Gerrard (RIR) decided that she was a big girl and started squaring up to the brahmas. They took a dislike to her comb and she now has a bald head. I did think that it might be dry pox for a while when the comb turned septic. It's just that she is stupid enough to pick on chickens 4or 5 times her size.

[sheik]

Egluntine is right (unfortunately), introducing a bantam to three hybrids is proving very stressful

See my thread about Saffron for my ongoing woes viewtopic.php?f=5&t=31574

 

If you can fit two new bantams into your eglu that would be a better option - at least the two newbies will have each other for company.

 

/\dam