Bantam People!! HALLLP- "Gift Chickens"

[RoostersAreAwesome]

My big birds free range most of the time, and lock up at night.

They are provided a little bit of everything, from scratch, crack corn, flock-raiser, layer, grower, and oyster shell. Even with all of that, it lasts me forever because they eat mostly grass, seeds, and bugs while foraging.

Game bird feed is pretty much the only thing I don't have.

I did not know that about layer feed, do you think I'm providing enough with all the other stuff to just discontinue layer all together?

Chickens don't even need layer feed, as long as you put oyster shells on the side for the laying hens.

So how early is too early for layer pellets? I have 2 hens that will start laying before the rest of my chickens and the bantams my neighbor gave to me also will start around these 2 hens. The rest will lay later. I read on this thread that someone doesn't even give layer feed. Can I just continue with the grower feed, scratch, and put out oyster shell for calcium?

Yes, you can just continue to feed grower with oyster shells on the side.

 

[BantyChooks]

If it were totally up to me, I'd always buy Flock Raiser. But sometimes when money is tight, i buy layer feed, which is always cheaper (darn near half the cost here). The boys eat it too. I'm not condoning it, and i have no proof that it doesn't cause them harm, and I've "read" everyone say it damages the kidneys, but i guarantee there are old codgers out there feeding chickens much worse. Just sayin....

x2.... Plus, around my coop 90%+ of all birds are sold before 5 years of age.

 

[theuglychick]

Update: bantams are doing wonderfully! Feathers are trying to grow back in, nice and shiny. All appear healthy.

I've noticed that 3/4 chickens still are missing more feathers than one, overall, so I'm starting to suspect that I've identified the feather picker. It's an especially fiesty little rooster who likes to chase everyone around. I may ask the neighbor to take him back as 2 Roos to 2 little pullets just seems like too much.

Still no eggs.

I think the little hens are actually young pullets.

I have had a couple more bantams mysteriously show up in the woods behind my house that I'm trying to catch. That's on a whole other thread.

Any who, thanks for the help, everyone.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I may ask the neighbor to take him back as 2 Roos to 2 little pullets just seems like too much.

For extra roosters: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/rooster-flocks.72998/

 

[theuglychick]

Update: here are the little guys and gals in their almost complete new run.

No more bald patches or feather picking!

I've also gained another rooster, as you can see.
He was living in the woods behind my house. So I've literally got bantams coming out of the woodworks!

They are getting along well!

 

[WVduckchick]

Update: here are the little guys and gals in their almost complete new run.

No more bald patches or feather picking!

View attachment 1158566

I've also gained another rooster, as you can see.
He was living in the woods behind my house. So I've literally got bantams coming out of the woodworks!

They are getting along well!

Nice!! Glad they are doing well.

Your setup reminds me of mine!

 

[theuglychick]

Thank you!

Might you have a suggestion for ground cover/flooring?

They're open but covered with fences runs.

 

[theuglychick]

And I LOVE your setup!!

Looks nice and shaded!

Nice!! Glad they are doing well.

Your setup reminds me of mine!
View attachment 1158569 View attachment 1158570

 

[WVduckchick]

Thank you!

Might you have a suggestion for ground cover/flooring?

They're open but covered with fences runs.

Thanks! It works pretty well for such small birds. My floor is just dirt (was grass when we built lol) Most of the sections have nice ground that the birds keep turned quite well. Two sections get a bit firm/packed, and I have added leaves, grass clippings, and even took a hoe to it and roughed up the ground again. The two sections that seem to do the best originally had a pile of fire wood and sawn logs, so there was a lot of old bark that came off the logs when we moved them. All that bark has actually helped.

I do like the tin roof too, I now have gutters that feed the duck pool and a 55 gallon rain barrel. Although the birds don't get as much sun, but they stay pretty dry, so its a give and take situation.