sankeys Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 Hi - I would be grateful for some advice. I am saving up for a cube and researching which chicken breeds to keep. Are there any "ornamental" chickens that lay 4 or 5 eggs a week? Also, does anyone keep bantams and chickens together - or would the bantams get bullied? Any comments would be much appreciated. Many thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 I would say if it is your first time go with bantams. They are small and easy to look after and amazing characters. I would recommend light sussex bantams or other breeds that are not 'true' bantams which means they have a large fowl equivalent. They go broody but they are very good at laying eggs my hens had a 3 week long laying period an egg from each of them a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sankeys Posted June 17, 2010 Author Share Posted June 17, 2010 Thanks for your advice RhysJordan. I notice that you have Lavender Pekins - I have been thinking of getting these as they are so pretty - do you get many eggs from this breed in particular? Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 Mine are only 7 weeks but when they grow up they are not good layers because they are a broody breed. If you want them for looks then certainly they are stunning but only around 60-80 eggs a year. Whereas my light sussex lay over 100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pikey Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 My big girls and bantams free range together and have laid eggs together but I find the big girls do peck at the bantams so keep them seperate when in their run. The pekin bantams lay about 4 eggs a week with the others pretty much everyday. They are gorgeous tho and have wonderful bossy characters. Like Rhys said they do go broody very easily (Olive is at the mo). Unless you are going to breed from them why not go for a mix of bantams so you have "ornamental ones" but also have a supply of eggs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 A mix is a brilliant idea. Then you wouldn't have to struggle identifying them. ( can be tricky ) My ideal mix would be. Barbu de grubbe, pekin, light sussex bantam, black silkie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pikey Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 My ideal mix would be. Barbu de grubbe, pekin, light sussex bantam, black silkie. Prob best not to get me started on this.........my shopping list is long enough already. Off to goggle Barbu de grubbe.....not heard of that one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 My ideal mix would be. Barbu de grubbe, pekin, light sussex bantam, black silkie. Prob best not to get me started on this.........my shopping list is long enough already. Off to goggle Barbu de grubbe.....not heard of that one My list is very long aswell. Barbu de grubbes are stunning there is a guy on here jozza who has eggs in his incubator. He told me about them and i fell in love with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickyhazel Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 My cousins used to have two gorgeous light sussex bantams, a pekin bantam and two GNRs. The bantams got on fine with the large hybrids and there was no bullying. Also, the pekin bantam was a better layer than all of them, even the hybrids - she laid pretty much every day. Although, the GNRs were ex-batts so they didn't lay that well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 I don't want to sound like im bragging but If someone was to breed from my 2 girls. Their chicks would be show winners. They have perfect feathers and perfect tails. They are a perfect buy for the beginner aswell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom123 Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 Pekin's are pretty good layers, more like 100-150 eggs a year. Yes they do go broody but all of them are different. I have a broody one at the moment and this is her first time and she is 4. There are quite a few 'ornamental' large fowl breeds that lay just as good/almost as good as any hybrid for example Leghorns, Anconas and some strains of Cream Legbar. None of these breeds should go broody. The ornamental bantam breed's will not lay many eggs at all, maybe 50 - 80? I think I would go for a 1-2 of the stated large breeds above and maybe a couple of bantams of your choice. Maybe a couple of Orpington bantams? These are lovely, round, fluffy hens that won't give you a huge amount of eggs but are very pretty. Or maybe Wyandotte Bantams? These come in loads of stunning colours and lay really quite well for banties. They can go broody in the summer but this shouldn't be a problem if you have a couple of large layers. Hope that helps I don't want to sound like im bragging but If someone was to breed from my 2 girls. Their chicks would be show winners. They have perfect feathers and perfect tails. They are a perfect buy for the beginner aswell. Light Sussex are quite tricky to get perfect RJ, they need a perfect 'necklace' of black too. Remember that even if you have a top quality bird and breed with a top quality cockerel you could get terrible offspring. It isn't as easy as you think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 Yeah i got told they might have horrible young. But with the feathers our friends has 1st place show winning birds and cam down from scotland to stay for a while and told me that he thinks the girls are perfect. Better than his girls. I would just love to see what the young turn out to look like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
