First time with bantam cochins

[user712746]

so we are getting chicks in february. i asked my mom about getting some bantam cochins in april from murray mcmurray. this will be our first time raising bantams. and i wanted to know anything i should be aware of while raising them. do you they have different needs than standard sized chickens. etc

 

[AnneGirlGG]

I've only got bantams for now, so I won't be a ton of help. If you're getting them from McMurray, I don't think they vent sex bantams. I would personally stick with straight run either way, as vent sexing seems potentially dangerous to tiny bantam chicks. I have no research to back this up, just what I know about how vent sexing is done, the fact that almost no hatchery actually does it, and experiences I've seen others go through with sexed bantams.

I've also read that you may need to consider ordering more bantams than you would standard size chicks to keep them warm enough during shipping. I believe I even saw one hatchery had a minimum of 20 or 25 bantams.

 

[user712746]

I've only got bantams for now, so I won't be a ton of help. If you're getting them from McMurray, I don't think they vent sex bantams. I would personally stick with straight run either way, as vent sexing seems potentially dangerous to tiny bantam chicks. I have no research to back this up, just what I know about how vent sexing is done, the fact that almost no hatchery actually does it, and experiences I've seen others go through with sexed bantams.

I've also read that you may need to consider ordering more bantams than you would standard size chicks to keep them warm enough during shipping. I believe I even saw one hatchery had a minimum of 20 or 25 bantams.

murray mcmurray has a minimum of 6 but my brother works at the hatchery which is like 10 minutes from our house so i dont think warmth will be a problem since he works there and we get them for free how many should we get we already have standard sized chickens in our coop currently we have 14 chickens and we are getting some more standards in february probably 4 or 5. how many bantams should we get

 

[user712746]

I've only got bantams for now, so I won't be a ton of help. If you're getting them from McMurray, I don't think they vent sex bantams. I would personally stick with straight run either way, as vent sexing seems potentially dangerous to tiny bantam chicks. I have no research to back this up, just what I know about how vent sexing is done, the fact that almost no hatchery actually does it, and experiences I've seen others go through with sexed bantams.

I've also read that you may need to consider ordering more bantams than you would standard size chicks to keep them warm enough during shipping. I believe I even saw one hatchery had a minimum of 20 or 25 bantams.

also ending up with roosters isnt a problem since we live in the country

 

[AnneGirlGG]

murray mcmurray has a minimum of 6 but my brother works at the hatchery which is like 10 minutes from our house so i dont think warmth will be a problem since he works there and we get them for free how many should we get we already have standard sized chickens in our coop currently we have 14 chickens and we are getting some more standards in february probably 4 or 5. how many bantams should we get

That is awesome! Warmth definitely won't be of any concern for you then.

That really depends on how big your coop is and how many standards you plan to add. I think the general rule is 3 to 4 SF per chicken inside the coop and 10 SF per chicken in the run. If you free range there is probably more wiggle room there since they'll get a chance to get away from each other if needed. Some people prefer to have more than those minimums though, especially if they've got a bunch of dominant personalities in their flock.

And bantams may require a little less space since they're so much smaller. If you get larger standards like brahmas or JGs, you will likely need more room per chicken.

 

[user712746]

we are only planning on getting standard cochins 2 bbs and whatever else my brother brings us also keep in mind before coccidiosis happened we had plenty of room for 24 standard chickens in the coop
currently we have
gold laced wyandotte rooster
gold laced wyandotte hen
2 speckled sussex hens
2 rir hens
1 gold campines
1 silver campine
2 buff cochins
1 buff orpington
2 blue andalusian
1 silver laced polish

what we lost

2 speckled sussex
my baby bunny. she was a splash cochin
2 cuckoo marans
2 gold campines
1 silver campine
1 gold laced polish

 

[AnneGirlGG]

If you have that much room in your coop for 24 standard size birds and you've only got 14 now, you could probably add another 4 to 6 standard size birds and half a dozen to 8 bantams and be okay.

I know you already know this because we've talked on other posts, but I'm still very new to chickens, and the last thing I want to do is give you and your family bad advice. Definitely get other people's thoughts as well.

 

[kattabelly]

If you're planning to house them all together, you should know that some folk find bantams don't do well when kept with large fowl. It can work, depending on the temperament of your birds and the amount of space they have, but adding younger bantams to an established flock of all large fowl probably won't be the easiest way to do it.

 

[AnneGirlGG]

If you're planning to house them all together, you should know that some folk find bantams don't do well when kept with large fowl. It can work, depending on the temperament of your birds and the amount of space they have, but adding younger bantams to an established flock of all large fowl probably won't be the easiest way to do it.

I have read that as well. That sometimes it's easier to add standards to an established flock of bantams because the bantams already see themselves the top of the pecking order. I'll have a flock of 12 bantams that I'll be adding 6 standards to later on. The bantams will be between 11 and 16 weeks when the others should be ready for the coop. If it doesn't work, however, we already have a plan to build another coop specifically for bantams.

 

[user712746]

If you're planning to house them all together, you should know that some folk find bantams don't do well when kept with large fowl. It can work, depending on the temperament of your birds and the amount of space they have, but adding younger bantams to an established flock of all large fowl probably won't be the easiest way to do it.

our flock is fairly docile. we were getting the bantams to keep our polish hen company since she has no one to play with or hang out she spends most of her time hiding from the flock. since she is small im hoping if we get bantams shell have some friends.