I have six white leghorns 8 weeks old and 5 banties 6 weeks old. The leghorns are in coop and doing fine. I want to add banties to coop. How long should I wait and will this work?
In my honest opinion, I don't suggest putting bantams and Large Fowl (LF) together, size matters and so does personalities. How about another coop? A warm welcome from South Africa!
Quote:Im still new to the world of chickens( not to animals) but the other day when I went to a lady's home to pick up my EE's , she has both Bantems and standard sized breeds and her little buys were separated from her standards . i didn't ask, but i noticed at the time Hummm this many chickens and the little guys are segregated. I have 8 week olds and now my EEs are 5,4,3 weeks old. ( have 4) and a 31/2 week polish that I am introducing to the teenagers.. I have the little guy's in a cage so that the teens can watch talk, try to peck but cant, and its seams to be going good. they have deffenalty shown tolerance to the little girls, I figure ill do this several days till the teens and the young'ens are all happy with each other.. hoping this works.. good luck and welcome to byc.. its lots of fun here.. blessed be )O( Pink
If it were me, I would merge flocks right now, under supervision, since the age difference is only 2 weeks. However, your bantams are probably a lot smaller than your leghorns. So be careful. If you see bullying, get them out of there. You'll have to watch them for hours to do it right. The older your large fowl get, the more aggressive they can get towards newcomers. If you must wait until later to merge them, I would wait until the bantams are 4 months old. I have bantams and large fowl together, and I get rid of aggressive hens. That is how I make it work. No tolerance. Just my opinion. Many others have had other experiences.