Many bantam roosters manage just fine with full-sized hens.
They are only egg laying machines when they are kept like egg laying machines (caged, on formulated feed, under artificial lighting, optimal temperature, laying for no more than a year). Also don't rely on eggs/week breed data - chickens can take lengthy winter breaks or go broody - you will wish you'd have more not less eggs.
Some breeds not being good forages is a myth. E.g. we got leghorns and they are better forages than barred rocks we used to have. They also further improve (i.e. adopt to our keeping style) with each generation.
I do agree that it is a lot up to the individual themselves but there are breed tendencies. For instance, I know there are people whose flocks don't lay in winter, mine are all laying and I'm not doing anything to promote it. I don't provide artificial light or heat and the temp has ranged from 5-30°F so not that warm.
If it is not their first winter, I would like to know what breed they are We getting only 50% of our eggs right now, from leghorns that are approaching 2 year old mark. They laid non stop through their first winter.
My EE's are great they definitely have great personalities I would recommend to any one my EE hawk sits on the highest perch and watches everyone hence the name
You’d be surprised what your bantam roo can do with a full-size girlfriend!I know there are a lot of these threads and I'm sorry to add another one. But if you are here then that means you're interested, right?
Ok on to the topic. I'm looking to expand my flock in a couple months and am questioning what I should do. I currently have a small band of 4 (cochin bantam rooster, blue Australorp, black australorp, and lavender orpington.) I have 4 dark egg layers coming in spring that I'm planning to add to my current flock. But what I question is I have a dozen blue Australorps coming as well. I'm tempted to change them to dark brown Eggers (Barnevelder is looking likely), EE, another breed, or just ditching the idea of this second flock all together.
I ordered the blue Australorps because I like the breed. I think the blues are pretty and my black australorp is such a sweetheart. This second flock would be more focused on the livestock and self-sustaining aspect of chicken-keeping.
I'm worried about the plethora of eggs I'll get. I have a few ideas what to do with some extra but I worry it will be overwhelming. I also heard that the high production breeds have shorter lifespans and can suffer from reproductive issues. I don't want the chickens to suffer that way. So, I'm open to "lower" production breeds.
Regardless of what I do my goals are to have a fairly self-sustaining flock with good foragers. My bantam roo won't be able to reproduce with his full-sized lady companions so I would have to get another rooster from somewhere at the very least.
I suppose my questions are as follows:
Should I go with the second flock? If so, what breed(s)? Or should I just keep my little flock and add in a few more hens and rooster for self-sustaining purposes? Again, if so, what breeds?
Space is not an issue at all and I'm rural so roosters are ok. Predation is fairly low. My budget is healthy, but I don't want to spend more than necessary. The chickens walk a fine line between pets and livestock (the current flock is more of a pet situation but I want some as livestock so we can humanely grow and butcher them.) However, I am new to chicken-keeping so don't want to overwhelm myself. I can handle my flock quite easily so don't think adding on would be too much.
I agree my bantam roosters are great and do there job quite well
