Brooding bantams with standard chicks

[Rockdale Chick]

Can I brood 3 bantam chicks with 3 standard chicks together? They will be the same age and bought together, brought home together and placed in the brooder together. I have a radiant heater that I will lower one end for the smaller babies.

 

[kklowell]

I sure hope the answer is yes... I have 4 chicks here, and 3 bantams at my daughter's house that are the same age and will be all here next week. I plan to have them all together in the brooder box.

 

[WhoDatChick]

I don’t see why not... I bought eight chicks last year.. 2 of them were 3 weeks old.. 4 of them were 1 week old.. and 2 were 1 day old.. in the group of 4 I had one Silkie.. the only bantam of them all.. never had a bit of a problem and she is probably second in command as of now.. she is tough.. and is now raising some adopted Cochin bantams I bought a TSC..
She never got picked on as I think all the big gals never saw her as a threat...

 

[mgbantams]

You can do it, I have had modern game bantam chicks living with large fowl chicks before with no problems (the moderns were 2 weeks older but still tiny). However, you should keep an eye out for chicks getting stepped on or trampled. If you see the bantams getting stepped on and pushed around by the standards, you should consider separating them.

 

[harice4806]

I've done it twice in a row now. Last spring and just a few days ago. Went to my local Tractor Supply and did a mix of standards and bantams. Turns out once I introduced last years to the grown hens I already had the standards helped protect the bantams from the existing hens!

 

[Alexandra33]

Absolutely! I was hesitant to try it initially, due to discouraging information, but now brood bantams and standards together routinely. If there's anything I've learned after 4 years of keeping poultry, it's that smaller size doesn't equal less attitude.

~Alex