Help, I really want to keep this frizzled bantie !(pics)

[urbanolive]

We have 12 hens and 1 rooster all exactly 15 months old. They have a nice large run and coop but aren't free-range until next spring when we can fence in some yard. 2 months ago we gave away 11 cochin banties (what we thought were roosters) to a family for eating and she just gave us back 2 that turned out to be hens. I was very excited because they are both frizzled ! So of course my existing flock and the 2 new banties didn't remember each other after 2 months apart. They have been separated in a large dog crate within the coop to get used to each other again. I have let them mingle a bit and the meany butt Buff O's always go after them and I break it up. It has been 10 days of their co-habitation and I decided (stupidly) to leave the crate door open and see what happens. Walked away to get the mail...come back to one little brown frizzle with a naked, bloody rear end ! The little black one unharmed. So I closed them back up. Now what do I do ? I thought for sure they would be used to each other by now. It makes me want to get rid of the Buff O's (they bite me anyways). I REALLY want to keep the little black hen, she's SO cute and sweet. If the brown bantie goes bye-bye will the others start beating up the black one? Oh my gosh, what if the black one goes after the brown one's raw butt since they are confined together? I really want to make this work! DH wants to get rid of the new ones...I am at a loss of to do !

 

[poultrypatch]

OH, OH, OH !!! That looks sooooo sore !! Poor baby ! Sorry the big girls aren't playing nice with the Frizzles. I don't blame you for wanting to keep the Frizzles ! I got some st run Banties from Ideal back in Sept. One turned out to be a black Frizzle ! I believe it's a hen. So adorable. She looks like a black ball that got stuck in an electrical outlet. When mine was little and with same age standards and Guinea keets the others would grab one of her feathers when she walked by. I guess they thought they were helping her with her bad hair day by trying to pull out a feather that was sticking out. LOL Good luck. By the way, I didn't care if it was a hen or roo...it was so cute it was staying.
Liz
Rochester, MA

 

[chickenwhisperer123]

Can you throw together a little bantam frizzle pen? Maybe get a Rooster and make a little multicolored trio??

 

[Kittymomma]

Get some blu-kote on that sore so her buddy doesn't start in on her too. It's just too raw to leave alone when they are confined like that.

If you really want to make a go at keeping them in the same pen and not building a banty coop try taking the biggest bullies and putting them in chicken jail and letting your little frizzles out. Keep a close eye on things! If it goes pretty well leave the bullies in "jail" put the banties on the roost with the others at night and check back early in the a.m. If things are still going well leave the bullies in "jail" for a couple more days until the banties are good and integrated back into the flock.

Next is to let the bullies out. I do it during the day since I don't want it to be really easy on them. The idea is to knock them down a few places in the pecking order. They should be so busy trying to get accepted back into the flock that they won't have time to mess with the new ones. Again, you still have to keep an eye on things. Sometimes the bullies go right back to it and sometimes they get picked on so bad by the rest that you will need to intervene on their behalf (chicken karma?)

If it doesn't work then the only thing I can say is build the banties their own place. I have a pic of a great little breeder/brooder coop and run set-up that I saved from an old thread if you decide to go that route and are interested. I think it would work great for a trio+ of banties. It looks good and shouldn't be very expensive or tough to build. Good luck and keep us posted! Integration can be such fun, especially when the new ones are so much smaller.

 

[urbanolive]

Well they are all going to bed now,getting dark. I hope the blue-cote can wait until morning. Can I get that at Tractor Supply? I did spray it with neosporin though. I sure am glad it's a holiday weekend so Dh can help me with all this supervision ! I will try the chicken jail...have to determine which ones are the bullies, probably the RIR's and Buff O's !

 

[Kittymomma]

We don't have TSC here, but I'm sure they cary it. My spelling/typing is badddd today. I'm pretty sure it's blu-kote but they should know at the feed store. It will help with potential infection and turn her little butt purple so she won't be as likely to get pecked on.

 

[purr]

just wanted to say be careful about breeding 2 frizzles together they babies will be bald with no feathers

 

[urbanolive]

Oh my, probably not as cute as a hairless cat ! I was also wondering what happens when a large EE Roo mates with a itty bitty bantie??? I am irritated with with McMurray Hatchery-we ordered standard cochins for that very reason and they sent Bantams, by the time we realized they were banties it was too late to make a fuss to them!

 

[purr]

I have an EE hen that came home with 7 babies and by the looks of it they have at least 3 different daddy's a partridge cochin banty , my polish cookoom maran cross and my bantie red frizzle cochin. I have 2 frizzles out of them that are soo cute