Advice (Standards with Bantams)

Can I get some advice, opinions, or personal expierances with mixing standard size chickens and bantams?

My husband and I have 6 standard size chicks and just bought 5 bantams yesterday (couldn't resist the tiny little guys). Currently have them in separate brooders. My husband wants to attempt integrating them eventually but I'm fearful that it's just not safe for the bantams and am leaning toward building separate coops.... Opinions would be very much appreciated!

I have normal size chicken and bantam live together.

Are they adult bantam? with proper introduction and big enough space, they should be fine. Bantam can fly very fast to run away

I have one bantam cochin/silkie cross in a large(30+) mixed flock of standard sized birds including several cockerels and she manages fine. She is one of my established broody hens. The cockerels do occasionally mate her but it's not a problem for her and of course she's near the bottom of the pecking order, but she's a happy little hen. My birds do free range every day though, so plenty of space and old farm buildings to go into and get out of the way if needed.

In your position I probably wouldn't integrate them until they are well grown and make places in the run where they can duck under to get out of the way of the bigger birds. I have a bottomless cage that I chock up on bricks where I put a feeder and water station for my chicks, where they can get under but adult birds can't. Something similar for your bantams would be a good idea. A safe area where they have access to their own food and water.

I keep two separate flocks, bantam and large fowl, they both free range in the same pasture but the bantam can fall back to their own coop and run when the larger birds get rough. You can do it but I don't recommend it, bantam are often bullied, and depending on the breed can get in some troubles, silkies often get their crests pecked. I do move extra bantam roosters out to the large fowl shed to live on the outskirts, they can handle it, but my hens are more tender can't always get away fast enough.

I keep my big stock separated.

along the same line as this question, if we were to get the chicks, both standard and bantam, at the same time, would they fare better or would you still separate them?

You can brood them together, I do sometimes, than I separate them when it's time to integrate into the coops.

cheequechick said:

I have normal size chicken and bantam live together.

Are they adult bantam? with proper introduction and big enough space, they should be fine. Bantam can fly very fast to run away

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They're just little chicks right now.

We currently have them in separate brooders.

oldhenlikesdogs said:

I keep two separate flocks, bantam and large fowl, they both free range in the same pasture but the bantam can fall back to their own coop and run when the larger birds get rough. You can do it but I don't recommend it, bantam are often bullied, and depending on the breed can get in some troubles, silkies often get their crests pecked. I do move extra bantam roosters out to the large fowl shed to live on the outskirts, they can handle it, but my hens are more tender can't always get away fast enough.

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Okay, that's what I was thinking of doing as well. My husband wants to at least try to put them together when it's time to move them out to a coop. I know it's natural for chickens to have their "pecking order" but I'd hate to see the little bantams get bullied. We have a large mixture of breeds also, like you said. I'm not sure if they'll all get along. I suppose we really won't know until time to move them outside. However, we haven't built the coop yet so I guess I'm trying to figure out if we should build 2 just to be safe.

Our Large Fowls:
1 Rhode Island Red
1 Light Brahma
1 Easter Egger
1 Russian Orloff
2 Gold Laced Wyandottes

Our Bantams:
1 Porcelain D'Uccle
1 Blue D'Uccle
1 Millie Fleur D'Uccle
1 Silver Laced Sebright
1 Frizzle

I have read many posts on here about RIR and Wyandotte becoming bullies, mine aren't, I think because they have a large shed and free range, as well as my bantam being separate. I have d'uccle, they are very small but at least they can fly a bit to get away, the frizzle I'm going to assume is a cochins, which is also my other breed, that one will be in trouble, mine are very easy going and don't like being around the larger breeds, my bantam have a run that they can fall back to, and often spend most of the day in it instead of going out.

Others have had success mixing them and originally I did it too, but chickens are cruel, especially to those they can bully, so I chose to separate them and have never regretted it.

Large fowl birds will often chase, peck and pull feathers when they have a disagreement, bantams mostly make a lot of noise but don't actually hurt each other, they just sound like it.

When it gets really cold here, my bantam stay inside their coop, sometimes for a week without being let out, and I've never had any troubles, but lock large breeds up for more than a day or so and they will often start pecking each.

Just some of the things I've learned mixing large and small, I personally feel better keeping them apart, and they are my favorites, and I like knowing they are safe.