Silver Duckwing OEGBs - What to Expect?

[davemonkey]

My wife and I decided we had room in our yard for a few more hens. We went scrolling through craigslist just for fun, and someone was selling OEGB's (Silver Duckwings (SD) and Black Breasted Reds (BBR)). They were too cute to pass up, so this evening we went for a visit. We fell in love with the SDs. They were so adorable...couldn't be more than a pound each...and the Roo is absolutely gorgeous. The price was really reasonable to me ($7 each), so, we ended up coming home with all 9 SD's.

He told me that 4 hens are 1.5 years, maybe less, and the other 4 are 2 years. They stopped laying for the winter but were giving an egg every other day or so during the spring/summer. This is my first time with banties and I am hoping that someone who has had OEGBs can give me some insight on what to expect from this mini-flock.

I put them in a 8x4 A-frame brooder w/8' roost set at 5" high, thinking it would just be enough for them to sleep in. Now that they are in there I am seeing that there is a TON of extra space...these things are SMALL!! How reasonable is it to expect them to raise some chicks to increase their flock to about 16 or so, and is that amount of space reasonable considering that they'll be free-ranging most of the time (except the occasional weekend if we go out of town)? Is that Roo enough for the 8 hens? What can I expect as far as temperament, egg-laying, etc...?? I have had a few different breeds of regular hens (RIR, BR, Aust, EE, Leghorn, Wyandotte, Leghorns, etc...) so I've got the gist of it. I'm just wondering if these little banties are much different.

Thanks for any and all insights!

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

You'll ADORE your new flock of OEGBs. I used to have spangleds and I absolutely loved them! I really miss them alot. I only had 2 hens and a too, but I would have loved to have a large flock of tiny chickens!
My roo loved to cuddle, took great care of his girls and always kept a watchful eye. The hens were just loves. Wonderful mommas, mine laid everyday in the summer and sporadically in the colder months. They're excellent foragers. I always felt like I never fed them.

Enjoy them! There is an OEGB thread in the breeds, generics and showing section with gobs of pics and info

 

[davemonkey]

Thanks! I checked on them this morning and they were chatting it up and hopping around their new temporary quarters (which is larger than what they had by a few sq. ft.). I tossed in some apple/pear cores from last night to see how they like them, and they went nuts over them. I can't wait until they have gotten used to this being "home" so I can let them out to forage. I told my wife to keep all the veggie scraps for them instead of tossing to our other hens, at least until we can let them out.

I had a big laugh this morning. My main Roo in the standard size flock is small (Fayoumis/EE cross, and he's only 14 weeks at that...his dad died so he is the replacement). When I compared him to the 2-yr-old SD Roo, I burst out laughing becuase the 14 week-old is a GIANT by comparison!

 

[davemonkey]

I think I am in love! 5 of them had legbands on, and I wanted to remove those (I'm not a huge fan of chicken bracelets). So, my kids and I opend the brooder expecting to have to chase them all over the place to catch them. NOPE. Only 1 of the hens, and the Roo, hate being held. The others are either indifferent, or seem to actually like it. We brought the 5 into the house so I could cut the bands without worrying about 1 flying off somewhere and getting eaten by my dogs. They were really calm (considering my kids are enough excitement to toss ANYONE into a nervous fit) and 2 of them sat on our shoulders as we did the others.

I'll post pics this evening as time permits.

 

[LilRedRoo]

That's awesome; can't wait to see picks. Our little "Ziggy" is also gentle, and we hope to get her some friends one of these days. Maybe when yours breed we can swap eggs or something...

As far as the rooster and eight hens, I think that is a good ratio; it seems the 1:10 +/- is pretty common for both standards and bantams.

 

[davemonkey]

TA-DA!!








They are SO TINY! Even our 10 wk old chicks are twice this size!



She's picking the fleas and ticks off...heehee.

 

[LilRedRoo]

Too cute, and that rooster is nice! I'll have to send this link to Melinda.

 

[davemonkey]

They look much like the BBR's, except they are white in the places where a BBR is red. I think you would enjoy getting some friends and a mate for Ziggy and I would definitely swap eggs! If you let me know the next time you are incubating (and if these bantams have resumed laying by then) I'll send some to you. It's the very least I can do for you guys.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

They're quite lovely!

 

[davemonkey]

We got our first banty egg today! Not bad for just 4 days at their new home. The hen that laid is named "Dutchess".