Newbie with questions

[aravenschild]

I have 13, ten week old porcelin d'uccle bantams, 4 are definiatly roo's, 8 look like they are going to be pullets, and I have one that is still undecided. They are in an 4 ft wide x 8 ft long x 5 ft high pen with an attached house (house is about half the size of the pen).

Now for the questions....

Because I live in the city (and the fact that few people here keep their dogs in their own yards), I cannot let them free range, do I need to supplement their diet? (I'm feeding chick starter now) What can I add to their diet? So far I have been offering some garden veggies (tomatoes, strawberries, they love watermelon, and the occasional bean sprout and earth worm)

Should I keep one roo or two? I had a trio of japanese bantams until the roo was killed, and I would like to replace him, but so far no luck (hence the reason for asking if I should keep one or two) And if I decide to keep two, will I have to separate them, or can I keep them together?

Will the pen be large enough for this small flock (probably 9 or 10 birds) or can I add more d'uccles later on?

Am I asking too many questions?

Thank you in advance for the advice

aravenschild

 

[danielbrown]

You can feed them greens, veggies, and most table scraps including meat.

If Roos grow up together they usually get along. They will go at it sometimes but unless it gets bloody don't worry about. They will work it out on there own.

 

[Davis5454]

Hey Daniel...

You'll find the people here very helpful. The chat is a good place to talk to people too.

The pen sounds like it is on the small side for these guys. But i'm definately NOT an expert here. I'm assuming that the house is outside the pen and not part of the 4x8 footprint.

32sq/feet / 13 birds works out to about 2.5 sq/ft per bird. Add in another 1.2 for the house and you get about 3.7 sq/ft per bird.

Its just me....but I wouldn't plan on growing the flock in this coop. According to a chart I just looked up 2sq/ft per bird is the minimum for "open" housing and 5sq/ft for "confined" housing. Of course they didn't define what is "open" housing....so i'm going with coop and run as my guess.

As for the roo's.....you can have more than one.....but the comment about them growing up together definately stands.

I have silkies....2 roos and 4 or 5 hens (memory isn't that great at my age). I could probably get by with 1 roo but mine get along fine.

I have an Austrolorp that got injured pretty bad by another large roo of mine. It split his skin open on the back of the head and exposed his skull about the size of a dime. I wrestled with putting him in the freezer, but my kids convinced me to give him a chance.

A little neosporin and a week or two later, he's fully healed and is now a big lap chicken. The moral here....chickens heal well if they are seperated and allowed to recover. Be ready for this if you get the roo.

I hope some of this helps.

PS - it sounds like you pamper your chickens well.....like a true chicken lover. I'm sure they enjoy the treats and you are doing fine. Just make sure they have grit or calcicum along the way. (Someone want to help with this part....i'm weak here since mine get out alot)

 

[aravenschild]

mmmmmmm,

Daniel wasn't the one asking the questions,..........

The outside pen is 4' x 8' with the house being 4' x 4', so all told I'm looking at the pen and the house having a 4' x 12' foot print.

Are you estimating space for standard size chickens or bantams? And the flock (of 13) will be cut back to 9 or 10 birds, as I decide who stays and who go's. (Mainly the extra roo's)

as for the d'uucle bantams, don't they stay fairly small?

aravenschild

 

[Davis5454]

Sorry....guess I looked at the wrong name on the list.

I used the chart for small birds / bantams. Larger birds require more room.

I don't know much about D'uudle bantams.....but I keep my 7 silkies in a pen closer to twice the size of what you have (total area) I feel like I could a dd a few more...but not many without them becoming crowded. Possibly 10 or 12 max. I'll likely add a few over time...but am happy with them for now as they are.

If my Lorp eggs don't get bigger, I'll likely replace them with more buffs and silkies.

The best thing to do is experiment and learn. I'm still learning about this stuff and what I like, what the birds like, etc.... There appears to be no wrong answer as long as the birds are happy and healthy.

 

[aravenschild]

Thank you for your help and advice,...........

I've had silkies too, but wanted something smaller, thats why I got the d'uccles. If I understood the information on them right, they are slightly smaller then Japanese bantams, with the hens weighing in at 1.3 pounds (japanese hens weigh about 1.5 pounds)

 

[cmom]

I agree with the other posts. Whenever I give my chicks anything other than their starter crumbles I give them a dish of free choice chick grit. I give mine almost everything in addition to the dish of free choice chick grit.

Here is the link to BYC Chicken Treat Chart.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-Treats_Chart