Single hen

[helen5848]

Got my three lovely girlies just over four weeks ago now and they have done me proud! Get on average three eggs every two days from them.

I stupidly went for a quick look round our local farm shop today and saw the most gorgeous young bantam hens I have ever seen - my boyfriend had to drag me out of the shop kicking and screaming

 

I was originally going to get bantams when first looking for hens, however as I really wanted a regular supply of eggs I went flor hybrids - to be honest i've never looked back!

However I'm really tempted by these gorgeous bantams - does anybody else keep bantams and hybrids? any problems? are they any noisier than hybrids (my girls are very well behaved!). I understand that it is not wise to keep the two different types together?

 

When I first started looking at the omlet forum - I saw that everybody said you would never stick to just two or three - I didn't believe it at the time - and here I am just over a month after getting my originals tempted by more

 

My boyfriend thinks i'm crazy - however he adores my original girlies that he wasn;t keen on getting!

[quickcluck]

If your able to do the intros i'd say GO FOR IT

[shaky]

Go for it.....if you can 'divide' them for a couple of weeks so they get used to each other through wire they'll be fine.

I have 3 hybrids, 3 banties and have recently introduced 2 big blue girls, as long as they are slowly introduced and kept occupied - no probs.

Mine are all best of mates now.

 

If not invite a few mates round, pick a bird each, place your bets and away you go..........

JOKE!

[Egluntyne]

Articles on managing intros **here**.

 

Many have successfully combined bantams with hybrids, but for others it has been a total disaster. Best advice.....take it very slowly.

[Tweety]

If you follow the advice on intros and take it slowly, it is worth trying. 2 of my bantams live very happily with my 14 big girls, 2 live separately but mix with them without any problem and I am hoping to integrate them eventually over the next few weeks, but the 4 tiny Sebrights are not tolerated at all even after living side by side with the big girls for months.

I would go for it as long as you have permanent alternative housing for the bantams in case it doesn't work out. They are lovely, much less destructive than the bigger girls but can be just as noisy. My smallest girls - the Sebrights - are also the loudest!