California-Southern

[Sylvester017]

Hi, I live in Los Angeles looking to keep a couple of bantam varieties as pets. I have a few questions that i was hoping fellow socal people could answer! where the heck do you find bantams in socal?? Im interested in the fluffier varieties such as the orpingtons and wyandottes, but would the heat get to them in the summer? I like easter eggers too, but i think they should be fine?

It gets pretty hot and humid in LA County during summer and early fall. However bantams being on the smaller side should take heat better than large fowl. A more frustrating problem about keeping bantams is that they are all such broody hens. No matter what bantam breed you can almost be 100% certain they'll be described as broody or good mommas. Having bantams means having someone home during the day for the times the hens go broody. With our Silkies we have to be sure to take them off their nests 2 to 3x/day to eat/drink/dust-bathe and get exercise running back to their real or imaginary brooding nest. We don't let our Silkies sit on eggs but they'll spend 3 weeks brooding an empty nest anyway until the broody cycle is over. We don't break them but let them be broody to get a rest from laying so many eggs when they start up again. It's incredible how many eggs bantams can lay in a week so we let them go broody to "rest." I think bantams are great as long as someone is around daytime to keep an eye on them. We've enjoyed our Silkies for almost 4 years now but they do require a little more attention/watching than the LF. I hope you can find the breeds you're looking for! Bantam breeders are harder to find because most of the males are unwanted by people and there's no accurate way to sex them as chicks - so they are sold as straight-run usually if you find a breeder. We waited to buy our Silkie from a breeder who sold them at 3 m/o so we knew which were males/females.

GL!

 

[UrbanFarmOC]

My EEs have faired well in the heat, with some precautions. I live in NOC, near LA county border.

One of my EEs will pant even when it's only 75-78*, but I know she's not even close to being distressed at those temperatures; my fluffier EE doesn't pant as easily. While the panting is scary at first, especially for a new chicken mom, they faired very well when we had the nasty heat waves this past summer.

When it's hot, I make sure that have extra water sources, and when it's in the high 90s, I mist their coop and under their favorite tree several times a day. The misters are basic and cheap, composed of a drip irrigation tube, a drip irrigation nozzle and an adapter for my hose. When it was over 100* for several days, I also misted several areas of my yard to bring down the temperature and made them a little coop cooler with a few jugs of frozen water in a dishpan. They also get frozen ice and fruit treats if I have time to make them. My EEs and other chickens all did very well and weren't distressed at all. They free-ranged as usual, but just chose shadier areas. I think I actually went overboard with the precautions, but that's better than the other scenario.

 

[asteria01]

It gets pretty hot and humid in LA County during summer and early fall. However bantams being on the smaller side should take heat better than large fowl. A more frustrating problem about keeping bantams is that they are all such broody hens. No matter what bantam breed you can almost be 100% certain they'll be described as broody or good mommas. Having bantams means having someone home during the day for the times the hens go broody. With our Silkies we have to be sure to take them off their nests 2 to 3x/day to eat/drink/dust-bathe and get exercise running back to their real or imaginary brooding nest. We don't let our Silkies sit on eggs but they'll spend 3 weeks brooding an empty nest anyway until the broody cycle is over. We don't break them but let them be broody to get a rest from laying so many eggs when they start up again. It's incredible how many eggs bantams can lay in a week so we let them go broody to "rest." I think bantams are great as long as someone is around daytime to keep an eye on them. We've enjoyed our Silkies for almost 4 years now but they do require a little more attention/watching than the LF. I hope you can find the breeds you're looking for! Bantam breeders are harder to find because most of the males are unwanted by people and there's no accurate way to sex them as chicks - so they are sold as straight-run usually if you find a breeder. We waited to buy our Silkie from a breeder who sold them at 3 m/o so we knew which were males/females.

GL!

oh wow, i didnt know that bantams would be more broody! I always thought they were the same personality as whatever the large fowl was.

 

[Sylvester017]

My EEs have faired well in the heat, with some precautions. I live in NOC, near LA county border.

One of my EEs will pant even when it's only 75-78*, but I know she's not even close to being distressed at those temperatures; my fluffier EE doesn't pant as easily. While the panting is scary at first, especially for a new chicken mom, they faired very well when we had the nasty heat waves this past summer.

When it's hot, I make sure that have extra water sources, and when it's in the high 90s, I mist their coop and under their favorite tree several times a day. The misters are basic and cheap, composed of a drip irrigation tube, a drip irrigation nozzle and an adapter for my hose. When it was over 100* for several days, I also misted several areas of my yard to bring down the temperature and made them a little coop cooler with a few jugs of frozen water in a dishpan. They also get frozen ice and fruit treats if I have time to make them. My EEs and other chickens all did very well and weren't distressed at all. They free-ranged as usual, but just chose shadier areas. I think I actually went overboard with the precautions, but that's better than the other scenario.

I can identify with going overboard. Because of our sensitive-to-heat Ameraucana we did all the stuff you did plus added electrolytes to the drinking water plus changing out if it got warm! We got 2 BriteTap nipple waterers this year so the water will stay cleaner and it will be easy to drop ice cubes in the insulated container! We don't leave water pans out for them to stand in because they'll drink the dirty water so we heavily water areas for them to slush around in!

 

[Sylvester017]

oh wow, i didnt know that bantams would be more broody! I always thought they were the same personality as whatever the large fowl was.

I thought I only wanted bantams at first until I found out how broody my two Silkies were and drove me nuts! Then I added assertive large fowl to the group and had to re-home them because they didn't play nice with the bantam Silkies. The only LF to ever play nice with our Silkies has been the APA Ameraucana who are known to be nurturing and accepting of other breeds and are non-combative. Because of their mellow temperament we ordered a 2nd Ameraucana. They are energetic, kooky, spooky, alert birds but are sweet pets, kind to flockmates, and allow us to touch/pet them. But they can be noisy if neighbors are a concern.

Bantam varieties of any large fowl are always more broody! The broodiest IMO are the Silkies and Cochins but really any bantam will drive you nuts and need someone home days for those times needed to kick them out of the nest to eat/drink/etc. If no one is home days and you only want eggs then consider the RIR, BR, Legs, or Orps. If you want just one variety of a good all-around pet but decent producer of eggs just get 4 or 5 LF Dominiques. These girls might go broody once a year but they won't be critical to watch as the bantam Dom variety. The LF Doms are smaller than BRs, are easier on the feed bill, are outgoing curious human-friendly birds, and they have neat rosecombs instead of the large or floppy straight combs that other heavier breeds have.

Whatever chicken breed you decide on be forewarned that some can be really noisy when they do their egg song. We have one Silkie that is so quiet we don't know she's layed an egg until we open the nestboxes. Another Silkie will holler for several hours until she gets that egg out of her. The Ameraucana is just loud. She's kooky spooky jumpy with a voice to match her energy! If there is one perfect breed I have yet to come across one. Each one has pros and cons about them.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
EEs were bred for egg laying Easter Egger... or Americana some hatcherys call them... I have friends here in San Diego County that have Ameraucanas the kind with the muffs under their chin... in low humidity all they need is shade and access to water.

For what its worth even a pure bred Ameraucana can be called an EE simply because they dont follow the SOP for color.

WE even ran a few days of single digit humidity here.... scary stuff because the flashpoint of the brush is extreme. here on the coast we still have mostly low teens in humidity. At my house Its always about five percent lower than here.

My place is sixty miles east of San Diego and up at 3000 feet. Last year our annual rain fall was three inches.... In Borrego its a might drier and about five to ten degrees hotter in the summer. And a VERY pretty place this time of year because the Ocotillos are probably blooming as well as any others that got enough moisture.

Panting is the only way chickens can cool off that and putting their feet in some coolness. Its normal.... They will also spread their wings out to sluff off some of the heat they will contain. Feathers are pretty good insulation both for heat and for cold.

Just keep an eye out for heat stress. Too much panting lethargic.... Feeding green leafy veggies will boost their electrolyte level... Good feed Ice cold watermellon slices are the bomb....

deb

 

[sol2go]

its a hatchery that doesnt inhumanely dispose of boy chicks.

per another post re: Sandhill, I looked them up to see what they had to say about the "no kill" concept.

They didn't mention anything about not disposing of boy chicks; they did say that:
ALL DAY-OLD POULTRY IS SOLD AS STRAIGHT RUN ONLY. WE DO NOT SEX ANY OF THE DAY-OLDS. Since we do not sell sexed chicks, we have no control over what you receive as far as a male-female ratio. Ideally, it is supposed to be a 50-50 split, but anyone who has been in poultry knows it can vary from that.

Here's what they had to say about no-kill:
We are also a no-kill chick facility. We adjust our hatches accordingly to hatch numbers of day-olds within reason. This means we do not have many extras with no homes to go to. It also means we cannot usually meet last minute orders wanting immediate delivery. This does not mean that we do not cull out defective birds. It simply means that we do not "overhatch" to have extra with no home that have to be disposed of. All extras that we hatch are distributed through our various assortments.

They have simply bypassed the issue of killing boy chicks by selling unsexed chicks, limiting their hatches, and selling everything possible that they hatch. Whether it is the recipient who purchased the chicks, or in the case of other hatcheries who do sell sexed chicks, someone is going to have to figure out what to do with the cockerels, it's just an inescapable fact.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
Yep thats the trade off. I have no objections to sending a cockerel to freezer camp. One of my main purposes in the first place is to have chickens for eggs and meat. But that said I am a softie and have been known to take beloved Cockerels and put them in with my mutt flock... I dont have chickens right now.... Dang Coyotes...

My own birds that I raised up and fed and housed till I find out what sex they are.... I have no issues with processing them. Even though I haven't yet.... I will learn. All that money just to rehome it? Besides I know what went into them feed wise. Also there is a good reason to keep the extras in case you find an outstanding individual once they grow up.

But when I do get my new poultry house built I am going to have a partition just for cockerels. Because when you hatch your own there will be a 50/50 mix of boys and girls. The same will go with any breeder you buy from. Not many are able to vent sex. And there are only a few breeds that are feather sex-able... looking at wings.

When I order some Meaties I will be ordering straight run...

All this is in the planning stage because I wont do poultry again till I can live at home. VERY long story.

deb

 

[ChickaLong]

Yep thats the trade off. I have no objections to sending a cockerel to freezer camp. One of my main purposes in the first place is to have chickens for eggs and meat. But that said I am a softie and have been known to take beloved Cockerels and put them in with my mutt flock... I dont have chickens right now.... Dang Coyotes...

My own birds that I raised up and fed and housed till I find out what sex they are.... I have no issues with processing them. Even though I haven't yet.... I will learn. All that money just to rehome it? Besides I know what went into them feed wise. Also there is a good reason to keep the extras in case you find an outstanding individual once they grow up.

But when I do get my new poultry house built I am going to have a partition just for cockerels. Because when you hatch your own there will be a 50/50 mix of boys and girls. The same will go with any breeder you buy from. Not many are able to vent sex. And there are only a few breeds that are feather sex-able... looking at wings.

When I order some Meaties I will be ordering straight run...

All this is in the planning stage because I wont do poultry again till I can live at home. VERY long story.

deb

Well said

 

[hosspak]

Just about 4 weeks left until the event. Many people should have a good idea of what they will be bringing or what they may be looking for. Please keep your posts updated as your situations change, so I can share them on other sites. For those who have items or themed baskets for the Raffle please PM me so I can make a list and seek out other donations from local companies. I can't wait to see old friends again and to meet new friends. CCP/BYC people are some of the best (and craziest) people to know. Last year we had close to 475 people show up, let's see if we can get 500!!! If you would like to purchase a personalized collectible name tag, please PM, they are $1 each. They come in a plastic badge holder to pin on or hang around the neck.