Is 3 enough?

[Boise-girls]

Be sure you look into heat tolerance - some bantam breeds don't do that well in heat. Unfortunately, you'll find contradictory information on the subject, which makes things more difficult!

 

[Weeg]

3 is fine. You could get more but combining more always scared me. Once their older they're so territorial. And the pecking order is so real! Just read up on integrated the chicks into flock for sure. Mine are 11 months old and the 3 first ones still are pushy to the last 2 that are only 1 month younger. Bully's lol

It’s a process combining them for sure, but very doable. I kept my bantams in a see no touch pen for 3 weeks I believe, it took time but now they’re pretty close as long as food isn’t involved.
I was able to throw my orphaned bantam Cochin in with my Gray Japanese bantam without ever seeing each other before. She let him sleep under her wing the first night, and never pecked him once. They were 3 weeks apart in age, still youngsters.
Some breeds integrate easily, some take more time.

10 feet of space...not in the coop, surely? That must be for the run??? Its, I thought, 4-5 feet in the coop and 10 in the run....I was hoping it would be a bit less for the bantams, as they are smaller...regardless, Im positive I have room for 2 because I had room for two regular sized hens...at least by the math

Yes, that’s for the run. I think recommend space for bantams is 5ft of space in the run. For me, as long as they look comfortable, snd not packed you should be alright.

 

[Boise-girls]

It’s a process combining them for sure, but very doable. I kept my bantams in a see no touch pen for 3 weeks I believe, it took time but now they’re pretty close as long as food isn’t involved.
I was able to throw my orphaned bantam Cochin in with my Gray Japanese bantam without ever seeing each other before. She let him sleep under her wing the first night, and never pecked him once. They were 3 weeks apart in age, still youngsters.
Some breeds integrate easily, some take more time.

Yes, that’s for the run. I think recommend space for bantams is 5ft of space in the run. For me, as long as they look comfortable, snd not packed you should be alright.

The more space they have, the happier they'll be! My coop is a scant 24 SF and the attached, secure pen is 64 SF - both theoretically large enough for 6 bantams, but way too cramped, IMO. They also have a larger, less secure day run, but I'm still planning to expand both the coop and pen, since they'll spend more time in those in the winter.

 

[gtaus]

So, what do you think? Is 3 enough? If I did add two back in would it be better to add two of the same age/size or get young chicks...obviously I wanted 5 and have the room for them. Thanks in advance.

As far as the birds, 3 is enough. For you? Maybe you still want to get up to 5 chickens. If you are not set on any particular breed, I would also suggest getting sex-linked chicks because you have 100% guarantee that you are getting pullets and no roos. My ISA Brown, a sex-linked breed, is also my best brown egg layer.

Chickens don't know age, they only know size. So it would be easier for you to get chicks of the relatively same size as the 3 you already have. If that is not possible, I would raise the new chicks separately and then introduce them later when they get to about the same size. If you go that route, there are many threads on integrating new chicks to your flock that may be helpful.

FWIW, I wanted 6 hens, so I ordered 10 chicks, thinking 1 or 2 might die, and maybe 1 or 2 would turn out to be roos. Turns out I got all 10 pullets and all survived. So I was lucky. My coop and run was designed to hold as many as 18 chickens comfortably. I am happy with my 10 hens and so far, chicken math has not gotten the better of me.

 

[Danielpn]

The three by themselves will be fine, and always hang together. Don’t get overly concerned about adding a couple of more chicks, but I would go with some other breed. The twins will also stick together, and if you can get a different color, you can study chicken racism (but, in truth, I think it has more to do with growing up together). I find it sort of fun to be able to credit individual chickens with their own eggs, various breeds makes it easier. Be sure to provide the youngest chicks a place of refuge (escape) when they begin to venture away from the heat lamp, and a safe place to eat and drink until the pecking order is established.
You will want to study up on chicken math. Have fun.

 

[bethnlee]

Be sure you look into heat tolerance - some bantam breeds don't do that well in heat. Unfortunately, you'll find contradictory information on the subject, which makes things more difficult!

Figures, doesn’t it? Thanks. I’ll be sure and do as much research as I can. I live in Ca and it’s been hot as hell…we have quite a large chicken community on social media in the area and I’ll see who has success with what breeds. I’m not set on bantams…just looking -

 

[rosemarythyme]

10 feet of space...not in the coop, surely? That must be for the run??? Its, I thought, 4-5 feet in the coop and 10 in the run....I was hoping it would be a bit less for the bantams, as they are smaller...regardless, Im positive I have room for 2 because I had room for two regular sized hens...at least by the math and not chicken math It seemed like plenty of room for them in both the coop and the run (the 5 that I had) Having said that, I don't have much reference other than one friend who's coop/run is smaller than mine and she has 6...but they look crowded to me (again, based on...nothing?...cuz I've never seen other coops!) I won't do anything without a bit more research. I appreciate your thoughts! Thanks!

Keep in mind that minimum recommendations are just that, minimums. And integration takes more space than the minimum as you'll want to add clutter and extra feeders, plus extra space overall so new birds can put distance between themselves and the older ones. So don't let chicken math get the best of you if you truly don't have extra space to work with.

 

[PoultryCQ]

I recommend getting quail. Their poops are more of a "dry" type. It doesnt smell as much and so I can use hay for quail bedding. For chickens, they would stink up hay in a few days, so they use wood chips. Quail also dont need as much space. 1 square feet per bird. They are cute animals. I definitely try to give them more space than the prescribed, but they could do fine with a tiny space. They produce one egg a day, for coturnix quail. You can also keep a lot more. They cannot be kept with chickens (I keep mine seperated in an aviary), but I just thought I would put it out there...

 

[bethnlee]

Keep in mind that minimum recommendations are just that, minimums. And integration takes more space than the minimum as you'll want to add clutter and extra feeders, plus extra space overall so new birds can put distance between themselves and the older ones. So don't let chicken math get the best of you if you truly don't have extra space to work with.

Thanks! Integration takes more space…clutter and extra feeders! Ok, thank you. I’m hearing you…thank you. I was never good at math

 

[PoultryCQ]

I recommend getting quail. Their poops are more of a "dry" type. It doesnt smell as much and so I can use hay for quail bedding. For chickens, they would stink up hay in a few days, so they use wood chips. Quail also dont need as much space. 1 square feet per bird. They are cute animals. I definitely try to give them more space than the prescribed, but they could do fine with a tiny space. They produce one egg a day, for coturnix quail. You can also keep a lot more. They cannot be kept with chickens (I keep mine seperated in an aviary), but I just thought I would put it out there...

They also mature a lot faster, some coturnix quail types are color sexable at around 3 weeks, and they begin laying at 6-8 weeks (Sometimes a little longer).