New to raising Bantams - Any words of wisdom?

[Amy in Florida]

Hi,

I have 10 standard size chicks of various ages up to 8 weeks, so I'm new to this. Next week I have 6 bantams coming: 2 blue silkies, 1 buff brahma, 1 white leghorn, 1 sebright, and 1 black tailed buff Japanese. There will also be 1 standard size BO and 1 standard RIR. I've ordered pullets. Is there anything I should know that will be different with raising the bantams? How about raising them with a larger breed like a BO?

I have lost 2 chicks to cocci, I think it was because I exposed them to older chicks too soon, and I didn't realize the chick/grower feed from TSC wasn't medicated. We now have medicated feed and I plan to wait several weeks before exposing them to the next to the youngest group.

Any words of wisdom?

Thanks,

Amy

 

[melvin1208]

idk sry

 

[SimplyForties]

As far as chicks are concerned, I don't think they are any different than full-sized chicks. I've got both banty chicks and full-sized chicks and treat them both the same. The banty chicks basically rule the roost. My BTW Japanese banties are the sweetest babies and the sebrights are real flyers. Good luck!

 

[Amy in Florida]

Thanks, Simplyforties! Anyone else?

Thanks,

Amy

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Hi Amy,

i have standards and bantams. i house them separately. Although many folks keep their flocks together without a problem. One thing to be aware of is which breed likes to roost at night and the ones that like to huddle on the floor. Silkies can't fly so they will be sleeping on the floor, unless you have a ramp for them to get to a higher spot. If you house the silkies in with other birds perching above them, they will come out in the morning covered in poop.

Other than that, you need to consider that silkie skulls are not completely enclosed, so a peck on the head from a larger, taller bird can kill them (or even a hop and slam into something low hanging).

i like my big girls, but really love my bantams. They're curious and friendly, and seem to like to spend time with me more than the standards.

Colleen

 

[Amy in Florida]

Hi,

The babies came today!!! They are so cute and I was almost shocked by how little some of the bantam chicks are. The little leghorn and the japanese are tiny! So cute!

Thanks so much for the info. My husband is thinking about building another tractor to house the bantams or at least the silkies. Guess we can wait a few weeks to get more serious about it. I'm thinking they won't need to move off the screened porch for a longer period of time than the standard size ones.

That would be great, because I love to have them where I can watch them all the time.

What would you all do with our 3-4 week old silkie right now? The other standard size ones the silkie has been growing up with (the 6 wk old EE's and SLW) get along great with her, so my husband put them all in the modified dog crate together tonight. It should only get down to 75 tonight so the temp is fine. I'm worried for the silkie that she might get hurt with them even though they like her. She is just smaller and lighter than them. Eventually, I want to put her with the new bantams, but I don't think I should for a few weeks for the safety of the new babies. Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[SimplyForties]

Yeah for new babies! Enjoy!

 

[The Wolf Queen]

I started out with bantams (got my 1rst chicks last year) they arent very different except size wise. Just feed and water them, just like plants except more often

. Oh and compare the size of the standards. If they are so big they could seriously hurt a small banty like the Japanese seperate them. Thats it for me.
Good Luck

 

[LavenderAndRoses]

We're new to chickens, just started in March with 5 bantam cochins. I can't add much, but we did read what some smart BYC'er posted about grinding up the chick starter to cornmeal type consistency. If you run it through your blender, it makes it easy. Just pulse it a few times, and voila! This way it makes it easier for the smaller bantam chicks to eat. Sometimes they have a hard time with the size of chick starter.

Hope that helps!

 

[cochinbantam-lover]

Oh my goodness, I wonder if that could be the reason I lost a baby! The starter is small for for cochin bantams maybe not small enough! I'm going to grind some up in my mini food processer. Thankyou for this very useful info!