This is probably gonna have some small stuff about what coop to house them in.
My flock currently consists of:
2 crele OEGBs (Diadem and Walnut) (hens)
1 BB Red OEGB (Chestnut) (hen)
1 SilverDW OEGB (Opal) (hen)
1 Golden Sebright (Franklin.D. Roostervelt) (Rooster)
2 Gray-blue splash silkies (Theta and caboose)
4 Silkie chicks (Genders unknown) (currently unnamed)
1 Beilefelder silkie mix chick (Gender unknown) (currently unnamed)
So,you just got some cute little bantam/silkie chicks and need some instruction, well, here's some instruction...
- The chick stage
Bantam chicks can always use some extra electrolytes for the first week or so
For the first week of life the brooder should be 95F and then reduced by 5F every week until it hits 75F then leave it alone.
Fell free to give them some treats to make them like you better. The pic is of my bantam silkie chick Koa.
-The adult stage
This is where you can train them cool tricks like falcon flying and how to hop on your hand for treats.
But you also have to maintain the status quo of things, or else you will have chickens without feathers and many injuries.
-Integrating
Knowing bantams you are gonna have chicks hatching out every time of the year. Here are some methods of integrating.
#1
Put every chicken you catch hurting the newbies in a little cage in the house/pen area with some food and water for a couple days then let them out.
#2
Let the newbies out everyday with the other and keep them in the large cage at night until they are integrated.
#3
Net off a section of the run and put your newbies in the netted off section and let them out in the evening during the day let the existing flock out into the run so it can be a look-don't-touch kinda thing.
-The flying problem
Bantams fly, so in order to have your chickens safe you will either need everywhere they go to have a roof/netting on top of it or you can clip their wings, personally I prefer putting a roof on it to protect from hawks aswell.
-Housing them
I would say a 6x8 coop could house about 12 bantam chickens plus the run should be about 10x12 or however big of a space you can make it. I currently have a 10x10 run with a 4x2 house that they can access at all times they usually just use it as a nesting box area. It is a walk in coop and my bantams like to roost on top of the house
-Keeping them with Silkies
I keep my bantams with my silkies, since I don't mind them cross-breeding.Some silkies can be downright nasty to newbies, they can be very defensive of their space, don't get me wrong,they can be GREAT chickens to get and even the large fowl silkies are only a little bit bigger than a bantam.(Franklin with caboose)
-Broodies
Having bantams/silkies means you are gonna have chicks everywhere. They would be great for hatching out any eggs you buy from Ebay, craigslist, and the buy sell trade section of BYC. If you don't want them to brood then you can hold an Icecube(In a bag) up to their breast and repeat until they give up.(Pic is my OEGB hen walnut)
Great and stunning breeds of bantam!
If you see "E" next to the breed it means I have had them before, if you see"LF" it means they have a large fowl counterpart.
Sebright(E)
Silkie(E)(LF)
Polish(LF)
Old English game bantam(OEGB)(E)
Cochin(LF)
Easter egger(LF)
D'uccle
Serama
Barbu D'uccle
Favoroles(LF)
Campine
Nankin
Rosecomb
Booted
Japanese
Dutch
Belgian D'anvers
Thank you for taking the time to read my article and I hope you enjoyed it.
Please comment with any questions or anything you would like to add.
My flock currently consists of:
2 crele OEGBs (Diadem and Walnut) (hens)
1 BB Red OEGB (Chestnut) (hen)
1 SilverDW OEGB (Opal) (hen)
1 Golden Sebright (Franklin.D. Roostervelt) (Rooster)
2 Gray-blue splash silkies (Theta and caboose)
4 Silkie chicks (Genders unknown) (currently unnamed)
1 Beilefelder silkie mix chick (Gender unknown) (currently unnamed)
So,you just got some cute little bantam/silkie chicks and need some instruction, well, here's some instruction...
- The chick stage
Bantam chicks can always use some extra electrolytes for the first week or so
For the first week of life the brooder should be 95F and then reduced by 5F every week until it hits 75F then leave it alone.
Fell free to give them some treats to make them like you better. The pic is of my bantam silkie chick Koa.
-The adult stage
This is where you can train them cool tricks like falcon flying and how to hop on your hand for treats.
But you also have to maintain the status quo of things, or else you will have chickens without feathers and many injuries.
-Integrating
Knowing bantams you are gonna have chicks hatching out every time of the year. Here are some methods of integrating.
#1
Put every chicken you catch hurting the newbies in a little cage in the house/pen area with some food and water for a couple days then let them out.
#2
Let the newbies out everyday with the other and keep them in the large cage at night until they are integrated.
#3
Net off a section of the run and put your newbies in the netted off section and let them out in the evening during the day let the existing flock out into the run so it can be a look-don't-touch kinda thing.
-The flying problem
Bantams fly, so in order to have your chickens safe you will either need everywhere they go to have a roof/netting on top of it or you can clip their wings, personally I prefer putting a roof on it to protect from hawks aswell.
-Housing them
I would say a 6x8 coop could house about 12 bantam chickens plus the run should be about 10x12 or however big of a space you can make it. I currently have a 10x10 run with a 4x2 house that they can access at all times they usually just use it as a nesting box area. It is a walk in coop and my bantams like to roost on top of the house
-Keeping them with Silkies
I keep my bantams with my silkies, since I don't mind them cross-breeding.Some silkies can be downright nasty to newbies, they can be very defensive of their space, don't get me wrong,they can be GREAT chickens to get and even the large fowl silkies are only a little bit bigger than a bantam.(Franklin with caboose)
-Broodies
Having bantams/silkies means you are gonna have chicks everywhere. They would be great for hatching out any eggs you buy from Ebay, craigslist, and the buy sell trade section of BYC. If you don't want them to brood then you can hold an Icecube(In a bag) up to their breast and repeat until they give up.(Pic is my OEGB hen walnut)
Great and stunning breeds of bantam!
If you see "E" next to the breed it means I have had them before, if you see"LF" it means they have a large fowl counterpart.
Sebright(E)
Silkie(E)(LF)
Polish(LF)
Old English game bantam(OEGB)(E)
Cochin(LF)
Easter egger(LF)
D'uccle
Serama
Barbu D'uccle
Favoroles(LF)
Campine
Nankin
Rosecomb
Booted
Japanese
Dutch
Belgian D'anvers
Thank you for taking the time to read my article and I hope you enjoyed it.
Please comment with any questions or anything you would like to add.
