Bantam Cochin Tips

[laughingllama75]

I actually have RIR bantams too, and never seen them fly. By the way, they make great broodies and house chickens.

 

[AtRendeAcres]

Quote:
Good to know!
what do you think of the size egg they lay?

 

[laughingllama75]

actually, between them and the bantam cochins, they lay a pretty good size egg. I am very happy with the size, and will always have these 2 breeds as layers for me....my hubby and I are not huge egg eaters (as in breakfast food) so these are perfect for us. OK, just went and weighed one with my dig scale.......1.8 oz and 2.25 inches long.
hows that for accurate?

hope this helps.......

 

[Hope0491]

I just LOVE my cochins!!

I free range mine also and they do great!

Here's a pic - she has massive foot feathers!

~Lacey

 

[red-hen]

Quote:
I'm so glad you said this. I'd been trying to figure out how much Bantam layers would eat vs their large pals by digging through other people's web sites etc. Hard to find such info, really! When I look at pictures comparing the size of the eggs I keep thinking these little bantams are pretty magical - for their size they're popping out a tremendously large eggs. And from what I"ve read - they yolk is very large for such a small egg. They just sound so perfect.

Bear in mind however, every week I see yet another breed that I want to add to my list of "must have" chickens.

I'm driving myself nuts planning for my future flock!

To the original poster - have you found any place to order a very small order (less than 10) Cochin/Pekin Bantams? I can't find any who do such small orders. The smallest order place I can find it Cackle - but their min is 15 in summer / straight run. (And I want a hatchery that gives the marek's vaccine, too). So if you know of other places for small orders of these bantams - please give me a shout.

 

[red-hen]

Quote:
Wow! That's fascinating to me. Thanks for posting this.

I just found a web site that shows the weights of various eggs in the US and your bantam eggs seem to fall into the category of a medium egg. That's amazing for such small birds.

Yay for the little gals.

This is the site I looked at:
http://www.sizes.com/food/chicken_eggs.htm

 

[AtRendeAcres]

red-hen

places to order small amounts!

ideal has more breeds you have to order $20 worth
http://secuservices.com/ideal/newideal/categories2.aspx?Category=Bantams

http://www.meyerhatchery.com/get_dept_1.htm

this one is most expensive
mypetchicken.com

http://backyardpoultrymag.com/ had an interesting article on keeping bantams this month

article said 10 bantams can be house in the space you keep 3 standard size chickens!

I wouldn't do this unless you have enough roosting space per bird!


***site I found very interesting gives the size of eggs!
http://www.kippengrabbelton.be/engels/
click on breeds
then clikc on breed & on the right it will give you a break down underneath the standard will be bantam info!

 

[AtRendeAcres]

Cackle has a picture of egg sizes

http://www.cacklehatchery.com/egg_comparison_22.jpg

neat to see!

 

[P0U1TRYP3RS0N]

I've only had two bantam cochins (a buff and a white) and we never had issues with them being with the standard birds.....Until the pullet died of cannibalism. The rooster was funny--he was a very proud little thing. Both had GREAT personalities. I would say that because they are so tiny I would keep them in a pen. I live in a coyote/skunk/raccoon/hawk/neighbors' loose dogs infested area, too, so I keep all my birds penned up. AND ALWAYS HAVE AT LEAST BIRD NETTING OVER THE TOP OF YOUR PEN. Raccoons have no problem climbing over a fence that doesn't have a roof. I would also make sure that raccoons can't reach through your fencing--those dexterous little hands love chickens and will kill a ton of them.
As for bantam cochins feet....They'll get muddy like any other featherfooted breed, so try to keep them away from the mud. But they are so sweet and fun to watch....Definetly worth it!

 

[red-hen]

Thanks RChicks! Those are great links and info.

Really enjoyed sorthing through the breeds on that egg size site.

Note: 1 ounce = 28.3495231 grams ... but I bet weight varies by age and strain of hen. They didn't show any options for ameracaunas or easter eggers, only Araucana.

I found this info on there:
breed / egg weight / #eggs per year / temperament

Orpington Bantam / 40 grams / 170 / Tame

Pekin/Cochin Bantam / 30 grams / 180 / tame

Rhode I. Red. Bantam / 40 grams / 180 / confidential

Faverolles Bantams / 38 grams / 180 / calm confidential

Brahma Bantam / 35 grams / 190 / very calm, very confidential

Australorp Bantams / 45 grams / 170 / vitally, not scary, sometimes spurious attacks by cock

Rock Bantams / 35 grams / 160 / calm confidential

sebrights / 30 grams / 70 / confidential / aggressive

d'uccle bantam / 38 grams / 140 / vitally confidential

silkies / 35 grams / 110 year / tame

(My favs in bold)