Mrs

[witzend]

I'm REALLY struggling to find anyone who is likely to supply all 3/4 breeds of bantam (at least I've decided on size!!) at the same time

 

I'm after a 3/4 of the following:

 

Goldtop

Maran

Wyandotte

Aracauna

Orp

Silkie

 

1st question: will 4 of these be ok in a Classic ?

 

2nd question: if I get 2/3 from one place and then another 2/1 from another - how easy is it to introduce?

 

I had this romantic notiion (LOL) of getting younger chicks to keep in the house for a couple of weeks - bonding with me and allowing dogs to get used to them. This has been BLOWN out of the water due to not being able to sex them until they're coop-age - esp silkies!!!

 

3rd question: - are POL aged hens easy to tame...............is it still better to get as young as poss??

 

Sorry!!!

[zakjon-98]

4 bantams is fine in a classic. I have 4 large fowl although I have a bigger run and free range for 5 hours a day. It is more the run space to worry about to be honest.

Intros can be very different, I introduced 2 to 2 new ones straight away and pecking only lasted 4 days but mine are placid. I would get them all at once unless you run the risk of needing two runs.

I bought all of mine point of lay and they are so tame. They jump onto my lap to be cuddled, never refuse to be picked up and one flies onto my arm like a parrot. Mealworms are the way to tame!

Hope this helps!

[witzend]

cheers - it's SO difficult to find someone who has the whole lot in one place!

[52fish]

How about getting fertile eggs and incubator, so they hatch around the same time and grow up together?

[witzend]

LOVELY idea - but how do you guarantee females from eggs??

[Tweety]

Getting them from different breeders will be fine, it is more important to get them all at the same time if you can.

Even if they all come from one place, they will still have to establish a pecking order in their new home with you, so introductions of some sort have to take place whatever.

[witzend]

seems one of the biggest issues is that certain breeds can only be sexed at an older age (silkies/aracauna)

 

Still struggling for bantam maran - any ideas?

[Tweety]

Where do you live? There are 2 bantam Marans pullets in Leicestershire advertised on Preloved.

[witzend]

lancs - not really thought of Preloved as really need to get them all in one go - and need to guarantee sex - I'll take a look though x