HenriettaPizzaNolan
Raising Layers and Meat Birds in the City
I'm picking up some meat chickens from Meyer next month and I see they have some bantams available still. I'm thinking about snagging some, but I don't know a lot about them and can't seem to find some of the answers I'm looking for. We live in the city and are trying to be more economical with our chicken-raising, so my thought was that bantams might be a good addition. Below are some of my questions pertaining to all chickens considered "bantams", not just true bantams.
We only have a 4 ft fence. Can these little birds fly over that even with wings clipped?
How big, exactly, are bantams compared to standards? How much less feed do they eat?
Does anyone have experience with Green Queen and Sage Gem bantams from Meyer? We can't really afford to have more broody hens (talking about you Australorp, Salmon Faverolles, and Orpington!) since we don't have a rooster and Meyer claims these don't generally go broody. There aren't any reviews on their site that address this. They also claim they lay 4-6 eggs per week. Please comment if you have had these bantam breeds/hybrids.
We have 7 standards. Could we incorporate 2 bantams into that flock?
If we were to get a cockerel by accident, are they worth making into dinner?
Are there any other pros or cons I would need to know about?
We only have a 4 ft fence. Can these little birds fly over that even with wings clipped?
How big, exactly, are bantams compared to standards? How much less feed do they eat?
Does anyone have experience with Green Queen and Sage Gem bantams from Meyer? We can't really afford to have more broody hens (talking about you Australorp, Salmon Faverolles, and Orpington!) since we don't have a rooster and Meyer claims these don't generally go broody. There aren't any reviews on their site that address this. They also claim they lay 4-6 eggs per week. Please comment if you have had these bantam breeds/hybrids.
We have 7 standards. Could we incorporate 2 bantams into that flock?
If we were to get a cockerel by accident, are they worth making into dinner?
Are there any other pros or cons I would need to know about?