Single hen

[craftyhunnypie]

Hi - I keep looking & learning about different breeds etc & I've rather fell for the cute little pekin bantams. But I do have a few questions.

 

Are their eggs tiny?

Do you get problems with their fluffy feet?

How big actually are the pekins?

Are pekins...pekins or are they a tiny strain of lots of varieties?

Would they ever be able to live in a cube & get up & down the ladder or are they better in an eglu?

Egg colours?

 

I've also looked at Buff orpington bantams & seabrights.

 

Would a mix of all 3 get on if bought at similar age or all hatched & brought up together?

 

My Omlet flock of 3 is slowly growing & hubby even mentioned trying to get a rainbow of eglu's!!!!! Just like Lesley!!!!!

 

Hope someone will be along soon to talk about pekin bantams.

 

Thanks everyone,

 

Emma.x

[Guest]

Hi ya!

 

I'm sure someone will be along soon with lots more experience and information than me...

 

I have 3 pekin chicks. One is a lavender, one is a partridge and the other is a mottled black and white.

 

They are all lovely and yes their leg feathers do go all the way down to the ground. So the very bottom feathers around their feet/claws do get a bit dirty/muddy.

 

As they are still chicks and have not reached POL, I'm afriad I can't tell you what colour or size my eggs will be.

 

However being a bantam breed they will be much smaller, but with the smaller eggs, it is usually the white that gets smaller and the yolk stays about the same size.

 

I "currently" have 20 hens and 1 cockerel. All of which get on very well together even though they are all different shapes/sizes/colours/breeds. I have a mixture of hybrids, pure breeds, bantams and heavy breeds. With this amount of hens all free ranging they seem to not bother about the pecking order and just go around in their own groups of friends. I tend to find them in groups of 6's and 7's wondering happliy around the place.

 

I would say they would have no problems going up and down the cube (they happily flap their wings and reach 4-5 ft with no problems at all...

 

I haven't actually measured the height of my pekins but at a guess I would say they are around 5-6 inches tall.

 

I hope this helps?

 

Cheers!

Edited July 16, 2007 by Guest

[buffie]

2 pekins here, they can get into the cube fine and are more likely to have a go at an orpington bantam than it would at them, docile hens orp's.

 

They are a pure bantam not a small version of a large hen.

 

Hope that helps

 

BBx

[craftyhunnypie]

Hi & thanks for your replies! It is so so hard to choose what to go for! I think pekins sound great! Right little characters I reckon! I'm just waiting now for the cube to arrive, it's stopping me doing a lot of things chickeny!

 

We are going to take a trip out at the weekend to look at chickens as my sister is getting chickens too. She's having them in a traditional wooden hen house. I have to keep my mouth shut with my opinions. She's got her eyes on pekins too. As she lives on a farm, she can have what she wants & however many she wants. She's going to look at ducks too as they have a large lake and one of the muscovy ducks hatched last year needs a friend!

 

She has got Charlie the white guinea fowl 3 more friends as a fox got his partner and he's been a bit lonely since. Charlie's partner had a habit of roosting in low down places.

 

I've got BIG plans when my cube arrives, I just wish it would come now!

 

Thanks so much for educating me about pekins - think they will be a fabulous choice!

 

Emma.x

[craftyhunnypie]

Has anyone got any pictures of their pekins please, so as I can show hubby?

 

Thanks

 

Emma.x

[Guest]

Sorry I don't have a digital camera (or even a computer, internet connection or TV at home!)

 

(Not very helpful really am I?)

[hasnett]

we've got Pekin Bantams - you can see them on the link below. They are so cute and friendly. They are really chatty and like to do everything as a 3...we are in London - you are welcome to coma and visit them if you are near by?

 

They are only 12 weeks old so no eggs yet. They are less destructive to the garden than larger chickens...

[xChicken04x]

Hiya, i notice you are in Cheshire, they is a place called Garden Poultry in Frodsham (near Cheshire Oaks) which sell quite alot of chickens (they have over 600 birds there at the moment) and they are expecting a delivery of 16 week old chickens soon and there could be some pekins there.

hope this helps

[buffie]

Think you'll find some on my blog

 

Bbx

[craftyhunnypie]

oooo thanks, we are going garden poultry at the weekend. I thought they only did the amber rockets, blue comets etc (meadowsweet). I didn't realise they did others! Oh heck it will be so tempting. Thing is my eglu isn't vacant yet, as awaiting my cube. I could get some very young pekins and keep them inddors in my sisters guinea pig cage thing until they are old enough & my eglu becomes vacant! It will be like a chook hotel at my house eventually!

 

Going to look at some of your blogs etc now!

 

Thanks a lot!

 

Emma.x

[craftyhunnypie]

I've found them - they are adorable & they are what they have got at the farm shop near to us. Hubby once commented how beautiful those were. Yep Pekins it will have to be....so so cute!!!!

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

Emma.x

[Guest]

I have pekins - just two at the moment and they are adorable. If you look at my website below and click on the right hand side under the category 'chickens' you will see Dilly Dilly and Pumpkin - and dear Freckles who passed a little while ago.

 

Later this week I am going to collect six more - so will post pictures when I get them.

 

There are some 'breeders' photos of some of the ones I might have chosen - but you will have to wait and see the final 6!

[Cinnamon]

We have one Pekin - a lemon cuckoo called Sherbert.

She is very sweet, but seems to have an excess of presonality & is as tough as old boots.

She walks like a prize fighter,strutting around the pen practically flipping the bird at the big girls in the pen next door

She is a lovely size - you can scoop her up in one hand & she will just sit there all calm,enjoying the attention

 

Her eggs are small, but have a wonderful big yolk.

There are a couple of photos on the link below......

[craftyhunnypie]

Isn't she lovely - love the name too. She even looks like she's got a little pom pom bottom! Bless!

 

Emma.x