Special Bantam Chick Care?

[hiddenflock]

I'm considering the possibility of D'uccle bantams in the future, but it seems like bantam chicks can be more, um, fragile...and sometimes difficult to rear. What kind of special care needs to be done for Bantie babies?

 

[Easter eggers]

Marbles in waterers(should be done with standard an bantie) sometimes if they have small beaks you must crush up the chick starter and handle them with extra care so not much of a difference I hope this helps

 

[hiddenflock]

Thanks very much Easter Egger!!! Last question...do they need more heat than standard chicks?

 

[newfrom NJ]

No you can generally follow the same guidelines in regards to heat, make sure you have a decent thermometer or even two to measure the warm spot vs the cool spot ( this helps with peace of mind ) Also try not to handle them until they are slightly larger ( 14+days old ) Marbles in their water is a MUST because they will drown themselves in the most seemingly insignificant amount of water lol... good luck!!

 

[happybooker1]

I have raised all my Banty flock the same way as 'regular' chicks and didn't have any problems. I used regular chick starter and chick grit and regular scratch when I put them outside at 9 weeks. I also handled them from when I got them @ 2-3 days old. The Seramas were the only ones I ground up the chick starter for and that only lasted the first week.

I had the usual plastic waterers the feed store sells and didn't use marbles. No one drowned. Not saying they COULDN'T have -- I guess anything's possible. I started putting them outside for a few hours when they were 4 weeks old. The 'brooder' was a large cardboard box in my RV, where I also kept a box heater going for nights below 40 degrees. At 6 weeks I shut off the extra heat bulb and set the heater at 50-60 degrees. Around 7 weeks I shut off the heater except the couple of nights it was below 30. AT 9 weeks they had been acclimated enough to our Texas 'winter' temps to be moved out to the coop. Where they've been for 2 full weeks now.

 

[Cluky]

I got 5 bantie chicks end of summer, and there is nothing extra you need to do for them. They were cared for just like the normal size chicks and grew up to be some great "ladies"

 

[cafarmgirl]

I don't do anything special for my bantam chicks either, they are raised right in with my standards and everybody gets the same thing.

 

[gabrielle1976]

For my little serama I grind up there food for the first 2 to 3 weeks in a blender just the make sure they can eat it ok , I make sure to have marbles in the water dish and I try to keep them in a fairly small space , I have the three Im rearing in a cat sized pet taxi atm and at just a day shy of 4 weeks just moved them to something bigger. The new five I have in a round toy tub with the button quail babies. I think they are fairly simple to take care of really I just try to make sure that the food is smaller , the water dish safe and the brooder perhaps a bit smaller then for big chicks other wise I think there the same as any chick.

 

[laseterlass]

I have Duccles in Anchorage Alaska. They are 4 months old and outside. They are all over the snow and trying to nest outside the coop. Pretty tough little things

 

[ChickiesNSA]

I am a newby, I am currently raising my first flock of chickens. Decided to go with 7 bantams due to their smaller size and living in the city. They will be 4 weeks old in a couple days. So far they have been Great! I researched raising chickens for numerous months before purchasing. When we first brought them home the waterer from the feed store looked gigantic next to the chicks. Since we were worried about drowning we put a small tea cup plate with a small jar filled with water (for weight) in the center of the plate then poured water onto the plate. after the first week we were able to use the feed store waterer without marbles. We are using the same heat guidelines for the brooder started at about 85 degrees and dropping it down aprox 5 degrees each week. Like i said all is going great! So i wouldn't worry about them being to delicate or requiring special care, especially if you have experience raising chicks.