How often do bantams fly and buff orp questions?

[smiley]

I placed an order for bantams. But, I read that they constantly fly over their fence which will be a real problem. My fence is about 4 feet high chicken netting. Their run and coop are in my backyard which is fenced with 6 foot high wood/mesh fencing. I ordered brahmas, silkies, wyandottes, and cochins- are these bantam breeds prone to flying and roosting in trees?

Also, I currently have 3 buff orps- all hens. 1 can be aggressive to the other birds but usually backs down after the first attack. Can I put the bantams with the orps or will they get picked on? At what age do I make the introduction? I don't really have a separate coop or run.

One more thing...one of my buff orps has really small wattle things. The other 2 have nice sized red wattle things under chin and they seem like good layers. I only get 2 instead of 3 eggs a lot. Could the small wattle buff be the culprit and poor layer? They are all just about a year old and none have gone broody either...

Thanks for any help!

 

[midget_farms]

Banty's can easily clear a 4ft fence - & they will if they have a mind to. You can clip their wings - that should help - but a determined one will still get out. They cannot jump the 6ft fence though.

Introduction
I wouldn't introduce the new birds to the old until they are at least 3 maybe 4 months old. They will still be picked on - but by then they should be fast enough to get out of the way & can take a good peck w/o getting hurt. For introduction there are basically two schools of thought - I use the sneak attack method & it has always worked. Late at night when the older hens are asleep (10pm ish) slip the new hens in the coop. When the old hens wake up they won't remember the number of chickens that were in the coop when they went to bed (chickens can't count) & they will assume the new birds were always there. They will establish a pecking order & there will be some tusseling but nothing serious will happen.
The second method is to keep the new birds in a seperate but attached run for a few weeks so they can become accustomed to each other w/o being able to touch. This works just as well but requires more space & equipment.

Comb/waddle
There is usually 1 head hen & she has the largest comb & waddle. The other hens waddles don't develop fully unless the head hen is removed. Then the next in line will develop & take charge. The comb size doesn't indicate laying so much as the color. When a hens comb is bright red she is laying - if it is faded she may not be laying or may not be consistant.

Laying
When chickens lay eggs they usually skip a day a week. Sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. They lay every 25 hours or so - each day laying an hour later than the day before (these are general guidelines & chickens may vary). They will collect a clutch of eggs & then skip a day & start again early in the morning. This is normal behavior for all chickens.

Hope this helps!
Enjoy the birds.

 

[patricium]

My buff brahma bantams (and the full-size Red Stars too, for that matter) can pretty easily fly to the top of our 4 foot barriers. But they have not shown any interest in flying over the 4 foot fence that surrounds our yard. I think they're basically lazy - if there's not something they desperately want on the other side, they won't bother. If it's just a small run you're fencing in with 4ft fence, you'll probably need to add more, as they'll probably be interested in being out to range. One thing we did was to balance cardboard on the tops of the barriers (when they were in the garage for the winter). Having an overhang really discouraged them.

They haven't shown any inclination to roost in trees though - they like their eglu.

 

[smiley]

Thank you both for your reply!!!!

 

[philippa@65]

I have 3 bantam cochins (pekins) and it says in all the books they cant fly but even with clipped wings they still manage it!