How big should chicken door be for bantams?

[MIChickandGuinea]

I have a group of bantam chicks right now - Old English, D'Uccle, Sebrights, silkies, and bantam Cochins. I am re-working an old coop for them, and was thinking that it might be a good idea to make it so that only the bantams can go in that coop (from a yard and pen shared with our full-size hens). Is it useful to give the bantam coop a smaller chicken door so that the bantams have a really good place to get away from the Big Girls if the getting-to-know-you stage isn't quite peaceful? We have a HUGE yard bordered by forest, and the chickens spend most of their day free to roam, so I am hoping there's not too much picking and squabbling. But ... just in case ... a small chicken door? How small?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I had to put cinder blocks in my run opening to try to keep the bigs out of the bantam run. Some smaller breeds still get in sometimes, but not many. You will need to see what size works best for you. It is definitely a good idea to have a place your bantams can go but not all the bigger chickens.

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

I had to put cinder blocks in my run opening to try to keep the bigs out of the bantam run. Some smaller breeds still get in sometimes, but not many. You will need to see what size works best for you. It is definitely a good idea to have a place your bantams can go but not all the bigger chickens.

Do your bigs and bantams always need to be kept separate? Do the bigs pick on bantams long-term, or only during integration and adjustment?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Do your bigs and bantams always need to be kept separate? Do the bigs pick on bantams long-term, or only during integration and adjustment?

It's an up and down thing between bantams and the larger breeds. I find younger standard roosters are the worse as they chase the bantams. Those boys generally go away.

I do have 2 separate coops so it may play into the dynamics a bit as they are 2 separate flocks with their own structure. It has been years since I combined bantam hens and standards. I didn't necessarily see a lot of problems. Most come in when roosters are involved or if the set up is smaller.

In general the bantams keep to themselves and the larger breeds keep to themselves. I do keep some bantam roosters with the large breed flocks, so the boys I don't worry about, it's the girls that run away looking scared, but usually they aren't pursued by the larger hens.