I have four red sex links, and we just aquired two bantam silkies. They're only 9 weeks old, so I'm keeping them apart from the older girls, although they're in the same general area in order to get them used to one another. For those of you who have larger hens and bantams, are there any special issues when trying to integrate the two? Will the larger hens automatically be top in the pecking order? Can the smaller size take care of themselves okay among the big girls? Any comments would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
I have 7 egg laying hens, a silkie hen and roo plus a bantam pair. The ol' bitties don't bother the small ones, the roos don't get along but both of them chase the the egg hens. Both the silkie and bantam hens will have their boods put back with the flock shortly after all the eggs have hatched with no problem from the old bitties. Both of the roos will come to the aid of their mates should something upset the hens and their broods. If you just have two hens then I would think there would be no problems at all.
Crested birds because of their limited vision are frequently picked upon by larger birds. Your chances for success would be greater if the bantams and the standards had been raised together as chicks. Watch them closely when you try to integrate the silkies into the flock and provide hiding places where the silkies can escape the standard sized hens. Good luck in this venture.
I have one 10 week old silkie, 3 bantams game bird cockerals, and 1 mille fleur D'Uccle that are in the coop with 16 red and black sexlinks of the same age. They all do fine together. When you first put them together watch them for a little bit to make sure there is no bullying going on
