bantam queries..

[rahulsood]

my friend wants to know about the bantams. he dont ave internet facility so i am posting on his behalf..
he have enclosure of 12by12 feet and thinking to keep 5-6 semi adult bantams pairs all of different variety. questions now
1)can he keep bantams like sebright, cochin, Japanese, polish, silkies there??males of different breeds fight??
2)all can be kept together as they will be free all the time, he do not want to keep them in cage..
3)will the one breed of bantam mates with other? like cochin with Japanese?? he wants the pure breeds of chicks from that in future.
4)he will buy all in mix color, so what will be the color of chicks if male is brown cochin and female is black...from that will he get full black or full brown chicks or assorted color.
5)now he has mallard ducks and normal hen in that room... are they compatible with bantams? if not he will sell normal hen and mallards..
regards

 

[rahulsood]

no reply yet??

 

[sumi]

Sorry, I don't know enough about bantams to answer most of your q's, but I can assure you the different breeds will cross if you keep them together. If you want to keep them pure (and to prevent the roosters from fighting each other) it'll be better to keep them in separate pens.

And

 

[HEChicken]

If they are all raised together, they probably won't fight but yes, the different breeds will most certainly breed with one another.

They *should* be okay with the standard hen and ducks, but expect a few scuffles as they integrate. Is the 12x12 space the only space they will have? If that is the case, I'm concerned it isn't enough space for that many birds. You didn't say how many Mallards there are but assuming there are 2-4, and the standard hen, and a dozen bantams.....if that is all the space they have there may be a lot more issues with them not getting along.

The general rule for standard size birds is 4sq feet per bird in the coop and 10 sq feet per bird in the run. The 12x12 space is 144 sq. feet but if that is the total space they have (coop and run), it is pushing the upper limits for a dozen birds, let alone the additional ducks.

I'm not good on genetics but my guess would be that mixing black and brown you will get some of each color. Hopefully someone who knows more about genetics will chime in on that one.

 

[rahulsood]

thanks all for the reply ..the room size is 14by13 ft..i have there 3 normal hen and one male(semi adult).. and a pair of mallard(semi adult)... and will buy a pair of japanese a pair of silver sebright and trio of cochin, all of around 3-4 months old..that space will be enough for the bantams? and what should be the size of cage if i want to keep bantam in cage for lifetime? do they need perches and at what height in room or in cage?
regards