Bantams and Standards- Can they brood with each other?

[KC n KY]

I have a trio of BLRW and a trio of BANTAM easter eggers. If I put eggs from both trios in the incubator, could they be raised in the same brooder?

Thanx in advance for any answers

 

[acid_chipmunk]

Yes, you can, just be aware that the BLRW will be bigger at hatch and grow a lot faster. I keep my BLRW with my Silkies and Polish together for only a few days before I move them to their own brooder. I had 2 BLRW hatch yesterday and put them in with my 2.5 week old Silkies and the BLRW were bigger than some of them! I worry with the LF babies, they don't watch where they are going and then to run over the bantams.

 

[KC n KY]

If I only have one brooder, than you are saying I shouldn't try to keep them together for an extented period of time? Sorry, I get confused easily

 

[SilverPhoenix]

They should be just fine together, especially for the first couple of weeks. Just keep an eye on the standard chicks to make sure they don't hurt the smaller chicks. I've raised standards and bantams together, though, and generally didn't have an issue. Once the standards start their growth spurt and get quite a bit bigger than the bantams, you might want to separate them until they're adults, though, just so the bantams don't get squished. That said, as adults bantams and standards do fine together.

Basically, yes, you can raise them together, but just use your judgment when it comes to size differences and keep an eye on everyone just in case.

 

[The Fairy Godmartyr]

When I got my chicks, I had 11 standard sized and 3 bantams (silkies). They are now 6 months old and have never spent a day apart. My only fatality was a standard sized chick about a week after they came home. The silkies have never had a problem being with the larger ones.

 

[gryeyes]

Yes, they can brood together. Just watch the littlest ones - some bantam chicks are TINY and can get easily bowled over in the races around inside the brooder. Mine all brood together if they hatched at the same time, or within a week of each other. It's best, if you have one size hatch before another, that the bantams be the older ones, so they have some growth on the LF, not vice versa.