I have a Bantam! will my Roo hurt her. **photo added pg2**

[Azriel]

I work at a Vet clinic, and and yesterday got a call from one of our other clinics that they had a "wild" chicken, would I take it. well of course I did. It turned out that it is a bantam, and not wild or feral, she is very sweet and friendly, wants to be in my lap. She has a foot that the tips of the toes all were frozen off, and has frostbite on the wattles, so I'm keeping her in th house till this next cold spell passes, and I know that she is healthy. I'm sure she got lost from someone before the last cold weather that we had about a week ago. I know she was someones pet, and even tho I will watch the lost and found ads, I don't think I'll find her owner and she will most likley be staying here. MY question is, when I put her with my flock will my roo hurt her if he tries breeding with her? He is a very big boy,at least 8+ pounds.

 

[sawmane1]

All of the standered bred fowl will probably peck and attack her becuase she is small. Also (if you do put her in the coop w/them) bring her at night so the birds will not know untill morning and may not be so mean. But i strongly recomend keeping her away from the large bred fowl in a seperate area because they will hurt a smaller bird. And remember to keep her warm too. Good luck!

 

[mkhenderson17]

I had a few bantam hens in with my standards for a while. I found that the one hen fit right in and the other was picked on some. The other hens were not the problem though. I found that my standard roos were hurting them a lot!. I would NOT recomend bantam hens in with standard roos.

Now I have 2 bantam roos in with my standards and they think they rule the roost lol.

so Bantam hens with standard hens= depends on how they all get along
Bantam hens with standard roos= NO! the hens will get hurt
Bantam Roos in with standards= Just fine as long as they all get along!!

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

Quote:

OP, a new coop and more buddies for her sounds like the plan!

 

[Azriel]

I don't really want a bunch of Bantams, but maybe some Sebrights are in my future.

 

[gritsar]

And yet, my experience has been completely different. I have one bantam brahma hen with my LF brahma flock. My roo is HUGE - in the neighborhood of 13 lbs. - and he's never hurt her, Maggie.
Maggie has been raised with her flock though. She wasn't added later.

 

[Ridgerunner]

When a hen mates, she squats on the ground to spread the weight. It is not as bad as it looks. If she were standing up, it would make a lot more difference. Roosters within a breed are usually quite a bit heavier than the hens of that same breed. For full sized fowl, 8 pounds is not that big for a mature rooster. Without knowing the breed, I'd suspect yours is possibly even heavier than that.

The more size difference there is, the more chance a large rooster will hurt the hen. That is just logic. Many people keep bantam hens with a flock that has a full sized rooster and never have problems. But some do. I can tell you there is a risk, but I can't tell you how big that risk is. There is no clear answer for you.

 

[bantyhen'sfriend]

It does look distressing, but the breeder I got all my banties from keeps all her birds together in one coop over the winter, and she has Orpingtons, Australorps, and a whole bunch of banties. I think that as long as you have enough big hens to keep him occupied (about 10) then he won't harass your banty so much. It also depends on the temperment of the roo. Some seem to force each hen they mate, and others seem to ask first, and if the hen refuses they go eat.

 

[speckledhen]

A large fowl rooster with a bantam hen can cause some damage. Have seen it happen more than once, especially with leg injuries he may cause to her. I had to rescue my tiny Cochin bantam from my large Delaware rooster. If he grabs her head feathers, with the size and strength difference, he could literally snap her neck. My Barred Rock rooster I used to have never mated her at all, thank goodness. Isaac sees a pretty girl and he doesn't care that she weighs about 1 lb to his 9 lb--he goes after her.

 

[Azriel]

I'm going to be keeping her in the house for a few weeks so I can be fairly sure the real cold weather is done, I'm a little worried about her frozen foot, the vet thinks it will be Ok. I've had people tell me she isn't small enough to be a Bantam, but she sure isn't as large as my Buff Orps or Black Aust. I guess I need to see how much she weights. when I move her out to the barn I'll keep her in a pen next to the others, then I'll be able to tell how she compairs for size.