Adopting Abused Flock - NEED HELP!

[PeachStreet]

Thanks everyone! Lacy Blues, you are such a great help. Thanks!

Lil Bit has a spikey comb, I think they call that a single comb? Anyway, it looks like the comb on my little buff orpington who's just a little big younger than her, though the orpington's appears bigger. So what color egg might Lil Bit lay, any idea?

I got the VetRx the other day and have just been adding it to their fresh water each day. I will have to try and catch him to treat him. I've never had to catch a chicken before! This should be interesting....and a little scary! LOL

And I'm serious about the mating thing....can a bantam sized rooster do that successfully with these big girls? My child wants to hatch an egg so badly but I know nothing about little chicks and I have my hands full just trying to figure out the big ones. I am curious if that's even a possibility and whether or not we should in the future. I mean does mixing breeds like that cause a problem with the chick?

 

[jak2002003]

I just read through your story.....well done and I am so happy you helped those chickens. They look lovely now!

I have Japanese Bantams and that rooster looks like a Japanese Bantam crossed with something else. He is cute! His tail and general shape is like a Japanese Bantam, but his comb and face are different and his legs are way too long.

Mixing breeds does not harm the chicks in any way. But his chicks will all be smaller than your normal sized chickens and so lay smaller eggs - OK for pets, but not so good if you want nice big eggs to eat!

As he is so small your hens may not get many eggs successfully fertilised, but I am sure a few will hatch out - those roosters are determined little devils - his long legs might help him in here. If no eggs hatched you could easily get some fertile ones from somewhere - then you can choose the exact breed of chicken you want.

Well done to you........the photos are beautiful. Enjoy your birds. Oh and hope the little roosters eye is getting better.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Thanks everyone! Lacy Blues, you are such a great help. Thanks!

Lil Bit has a spikey comb, I think they call that a single comb? Anyway, it looks like the comb on my little buff orpington who's just a little big younger than her, though the orpington's appears bigger. So what color egg might Lil Bit lay, any idea?

I got the VetRx the other day and have just been adding it to their fresh water each day. I will have to try and catch him to treat him. I've never had to catch a chicken before! This should be interesting....and a little scary! LOL

And I'm serious about the mating thing....can a bantam sized rooster do that successfully with these big girls? My child wants to hatch an egg so badly but I know nothing about little chicks and I have my hands full just trying to figure out the big ones. I am curious if that's even a possibility and whether or not we should in the future. I mean does mixing breeds like that cause a problem with the chick?

Ok, so a single comb. She looks to me like my Andalusians but really small and possibly mixed with something as she is showing some brown feathers. Andalusian bantams are extremely rare but maybe whatever her parents were can explain it. Perhaps she is half andalusian and half some sort of bantam.

It looks a little early to tell what color egg she will lay as her earlobes appear pink. An andalusian lays white eggs but whatever else she is may color them a bit more. It will be small for sure.

Yes, that bantam can fertilize the big hens... like Jak said, their pretty determined little devils!

 

[PeachStreet]

Thank you Jak! I see your pictures now and can see that in him. It's fun to know a little more about him so thank you! It's also fun to know that we could have his little chickies running around in the future if we decided to. We have 13 hens, most big size, so smaller eggs wouldn't really matter. We'd probably end up with more roosters anyway! LOL

Thanks again!

 

[PeachStreet]

Really an [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Andulasian mix? That could be cool! We'll have to wait and see. She does have pink ear lobes and though she is supposedly younger than my originally set of 3 pullets, she's smaller. And while she appears to be filling out, she's not getting bigger as fast as my original 3, so bantam makes sense. And here I was worried she just wasn't growing as well as she should be! I probably won't be able to find out about her parents.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]And I can see determination in him for sure! He has no idea he's small or he just doesn't care! [/FONT]