Chicken bald back

[Goolan29]

Hi, I am a newby & having done a bit of research on keeping chickens I have just bought an Eglu Go. I have a small garden which has some flower beds and am looking to get 3 chickens which will be kept as pets (although of course the eggs will be lovely) I have an 11 year old & a 2 year old. I intend to keep my Eglu on a concrete base with woodchips & I will let them roam the garden when I am home. I would like to get hens - a pekin bantam, a cochin + 1 other. My questions are: 1) what other breed could I get which would suit my garden & children? 2) will 3 different breeds be ok together? 3) I am near Sudbury in Suffolk - can anyone recommend a breeder near me please.

I am open to all advice/suggestions & am sure I will have lots more questions

Thank you

[Cat tails]

Congrats with your decision! I've had my three bantam ladies for 4 weeks now and they are great! Have a tiny garden myself and they definately help with the landscaping...

I think different breeds together should be fine. Maybe a New Hampshire bantam? Good layers and not too big. And they just look absolutely lovely ofcourse!

[chuckmum6]

Your Pekin will be perfect for your 2yr old to hold and she won't do too much damage, although she will go broody. The Cochin will be much bigger, personally I wouldn't get such a large breed to go in a relatively small space and with tiny Pekins. I would recommend wyandotte bantams, very pretty and hardy birds, they would be a much better size to live with a Pekin. Bantam Sussex or Maran's will give you lovely eggs and are less prone to being broody. If you fancy more exotic birds with lovely blue eggs your could get a Araucana?

Forgot to say welcome to the wonderful world of chicken ownership (it is very addictive - so beware!)

[Chickabee]

I've just got a light Sussex bantam. She is gorgeous. She's really easy to handle and beautiful. She can also stand up for herself, which is great as I have a Araucana who is a right bully

[LizzieLloyd]

Silkies are great for kids too and go well with pekins (although ours was broody from time to time). Would also recommend sticking with smaller bantham sized birds to go with pekins. Bantham Sussex are good for eggs. There are lots of lovely ones to choose from

[Beantree]

Leghorn (Brown English) bantams are great. Lay really well, good sized eggs. Friendly, but a bit flighty. They should have floppy-over combs to breed standard. Breeders sell their cockerel breeding pullets off very cheap though which have upright combs and they will be fine. A breed I really recommend and very popular during the War because the feed to egg conversion ratio was the highest obtainable at the time.

[patsylabrador]

I've got these bantams. I'm not completely sure what make of chicken they are. They are funny, stroppy and strong and lovely pets.

mychickens

[Chortle Chook]

Hello and BIG WELCOME

You say you are interested in keeping 'a pekin bantam, a cochin + 1 other'. Were you aware that a cochin in fact looks very much like a large Pekin and though the Pekin is known in the UK as a separate breed, in other countries it is called a 'Cochin bantam'? Perhaps it is the general shape that you like - a dumpy chicken with a sort of bussle. They are lovely and very talkative so though 3 different breeds could get along just fine (depending on their nature) you might consider 3 different coloured pekins. They come in lots of pretty colours, including some lovely patterns like mille fleur and lemon as well as lavender. If you look here you'll see some lovely ones. This place is in Norfolk, so I'm not sure if it is in driving distance from you, but just looking at their website will give you the idea. They aslo have Sablepoots - see HERE which would go nicely with Pekins. Wyandottes are also a good idea.

Another place you might want to visit in Suffolk is Oak Cottage. They specialise in chook housing but they also have some very nice breeds including both Cochins and Pekins, so you could get an idea of their comparative size - as well as seeing plenty of other breeds to tempt you .

[jeshen]

Hope you enjoy your new hobby as much as I do!

I agree with Chortle Chook that it's nice to have a group of the same breed with different colours - uniformity and variety at the same time! Pekins are friendly and tameable, wonderful with children, look beautiful in the garden and can be very comical to watch, especially when they're running! There's a huge choice of colours. Good luck!

[Chickabee]

My pekin frizzle has turned out to be a proper little star. She was pecked nearly to baldness by one of my araucanas. She's now in a seperate coop with one of my silkies. They get let out every day, all day. She lets me pick her up all the time and seems to lay every day (I'm sure she's supposed to have a day off). Every morning she chats away to me when I go to let her out. Her eggs are small but gorgeous, more yolk than white

[Goolan29]

Thank you all very much for your replies & opinions On Saturday we picked up our 4 gorgeous 10 week old pekin bantams from Norfolk Garden Chickens (thank you Chortle Chook) 2 frizzle & 2 smooth. Boo, Lucy, Ethel & Bluey seem to be settling in well & the kids are in love with them. I will keep them in their run for a couple of weeks before letting them out to roam our small garden. I can see some happy chicken days ahead

[Chickabee]

pictures please

[Luvachicken]

pictures please

 

Ooooh yes please.

luvachicken loves pekin bantams

[Chortle Chook]

So pleased Goolan29 You certainly will have some happy chook days ahead.