Old English and Modern Banties: Hardiness???

[Gresh]

Hey all! I have a question for all you OEG/Modern bantam lovers out there: How hardy are these two breeds to the elements and to disease? I have heard that Old English Large Fowl are very hardy in both cold and heat and have a good resistance to disease, but I have not heard much on the OEG Banties. I have also heard that Moderns cannot take temps below 35 degrees F. but do wonderfully in heat. Haven't heard anything on disease resistance. If anyone who has experience with/knowledge of these banty breeds could answer these questions, as well as maybe give me some breeder/hatchery references, I'd be indebted to them.
Thanks, and God bless!

 

[GotGame]

I have both breeds, and I will just give you my opinion based on my experiences. Old english handle cold better, as they have more feathering, and shorter legs. Moderns are more likely to loose toes, or even legs to frostbite, due to lack of feathering, which keeps them from fluffing up and covering feet/legs properly. Both handle the cold well enough if you can keep them DRY and OUT OF THE WIND. We had -10 degree, -25 windchill this past winter, and didnt lose a single grown bird to the cold, but they were kept out of the wind, and kept dry. I find the moderns to be more disease resistant, both are hardy in that aspect, but moderns more so. Moderns seem to handle the heat better, for the same reasons they handle the cold not as well. Now, hardcore show lines of either breed, if linebred/inbred are likely going to be less hardy and disease resistant. Just my two cents...I have been very pleased with both breeds, as they dont need coddled to survive.

 

[Alicia G]

Ive never had Modern Games but I have had OEGBs and all I can say is, take em through a tornado and they'll be standing with out a feather ruffled!

 

[sjarvis00]

We raise several varieties of OE bantam. I can tell you based on the breeder they come from disease resistance varies greatly. Most Hatchery stock will do fine though. If you want a good hardy bird either buy local or hatchery stock.

 

[GotGame]

Quote:
Thats a good point. If you buy local birds, they will be much more likely to have immunities built up to anything in the area, versus birds shipped in from another part of the country, they likely wont have the immunities built up to anything in your area.

 

[Gresh]

Quote:
Thank you for the info! It is quite helpful. I am currently building an insulated, draft/moisture free chicken coop for the winter months, so it sounds like I'd be able to keep OEG's and Moderns fairly well. I like the idea of the Moderns being more disease resistant: that is one of the main qualities I consider when looking for a breed. Plus, I'm sure it will be quite interesting to take them to poultry shows. Do you think that OEG/Modern banties would take shipment well? I plan on buying some from IDEAL Poultry either this fall or 2012's spring and do not want to order breeds that will not take shipment. They will most likely be shipped with standard size males for comfort/warmth, and I didn't know if that would be a help/hazard for them.

 

[GotGame]

Quote:
On the insulated building, you must, must, must make sure the birds get plenty of ventilation, otherwise you will have a bunch of warm, sick birds. Birds can handle cold just fine, that is why they have the feathers. I kept a few of my more valuable oegb inside an uninsulated wooden building last year, when it got down to -25. I had a small space heater, it kept it around 20 degrees or so, and birds did fine, just make sure they stay dry and out of the wind. Birds getting wet isnt a big deal, and birds being in the wind isnt a huge deal, but wet birds in the wind are dead birds. I have had both breeds shipped to me and have not had a problem. Now, on ideal hatchery birds...I have seen some, and even had some here and you will not likely get any show quality birds from a hatchery. Maybe 1 in 50 makes a decent representation of its breed and might make decent show quality...now, if you just want them for fun, for pets, etc...you should be very pleased with them. But hatchery birds are bred for quantity, not quality. Consider this, Ideal Hatchery puts out around 3000 chicks a day. You can pay close attention to breeding stock, and cull as needed and do this. Now, Im not knocking hatcheries, ideal is a good place to do business with, just be aware when you are buying birds, what they are bred for. And good luck

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[Gresh]

Quote:
On the insulated building, you must, must, must make sure the birds get plenty of ventilation, otherwise you will have a bunch of warm, sick birds. Birds can handle cold just fine, that is why they have the feathers. I kept a few of my more valuable oegb inside an uninsulated wooden building last year, when it got down to -25. I had a small space heater, it kept it around 20 degrees or so, and birds did fine, just make sure they stay dry and out of the wind. Birds getting wet isnt a big deal, and birds being in the wind isnt a huge deal, but wet birds in the wind are dead birds. I have had both breeds shipped to me and have not had a problem. Now, on ideal hatchery birds...I have seen some, and even had some here and you will not likely get any show quality birds from a hatchery. Maybe 1 in 50 makes a decent representation of its breed and might make decent show quality...now, if you just want them for fun, for pets, etc...you should be very pleased with them. But hatchery birds are bred for quantity, not quality. Consider this, Ideal Hatchery puts out around 3000 chicks a day. You can pay close attention to breeding stock, and cull as needed and do this. Now, Im not knocking hatcheries, ideal is a good place to do business with, just be aware when you are buying birds, what they are bred for. And good luck

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I am insulating my coop with just one layer of thin insulation boards, and I am thinking about one or two thin vents near the top of the coop's walls. Would vents on the top do okay, or would better ventilation be acquired with lower vents? I am totally new to the chicken coop thing and this is my first time raising chickens (I have about 13). As far as show quality, that was more of a side-note for me: I mainly keep chickens for pleasure's sake, but am a little interesting in some low-scale breeding. IDEAL says the following under the description for their BBR Modern Banties: "Our bantams are pure bred and represent the breed & variety, however; we do not guarantee or represent that they are of show quality." I am most interested in pure bloodlines, not necessarily the showiest bloodlines.

Thank you again for these tips! Do you know of a hatchery that sells purebred Standard-sized OEG's or Moderns?

 

[GotGame]

I would honestly ask around about ventiliation, there are much more knowledgeable people than myself on here. As for quality of birds from hatchery, when we ordered some, it was for my wife, and just for fun. But, out of 24, all but 6 had one thing or another that would have caused them to be disqualified from any show you put them in, and that was when they were still young. And out of the six, very unlikely you would get one that was good enough to show, and maybe not even good enough to breed from, if you are wanting quality. The problem with buying from hatcheries, is you do not know if what you are getting are really even purebred or not. Because they are attempting to produce as much quantity as possible, so they need as many adult breeders as is possible, and I doubt they put much effort into finding background on their breeders. Just cause a bird looks pure, or has the right color, doesnt mean anything. I would never claim anything I got from a hatchery is 'pure' as you just cant know for sure, and as I said before, they are producing quantity, NOT quality. If you think you might want to show down the road, I would strongly suggest going with a good trio from a breeder of quality birds. You will be much happier in the long run, and you know what you have when you buy them.

 

[NYREDS]

I'm in upstate NY where 20 below temps aren't at all uncommon. I've raised both breeds & cold hardiness has never been an issue. Never had either breed lose a toe. In my experience birds lose toes when they're kept in damp conditions in the winter.