Tell me about bantams

[Callender Girl]

Good to know about the sexed bantams, @Ponyiqandhens2. Thanks for the info!

 

[Aunt Angus]

I have 3 bantams (2 Silkies and a Sebright) in my flock of large breeds. I integrated them the same way I integrate large breeds: look but don't touch. I sectioned off part of my run and kept the littles in there for a good long while before letting them out to forage together. I didn't have any problems. In fact, the Silkies manage to kind of stay aloof from the pecker order politics.

Just be sure you have lots of places the little birds can hide/escape from the bigger birds. And take your time integrating them.

 

[SueT]

Your bantam is adorable! I’m wondering, since you also only have one bantam in a big flock, how did you integrate them? Or were they hatched together? Never had success in integrating mine it’s more like me and her are flock mates now! She’s switched to a sweet house life because of this. I thought I’d have greater success integrating them because my chickens were docile but I was very very wrongI

I got 2 bantams plus 4 standard size chicks all together one year, at a nearby hatchery. So they were all raised together and never thought of size as a difference.
There were 3 or 4 older hens they were integrated with, first in a see-no-touch setup…the hens were outnumbered by the youngsters in this case, which worked to the newcomers’ advantage. Yes, integration can be difficult.
It has been several years, Moonshine is the only one left, I think she’ll be 6 this year.

 

[Eggcentric NanaJ]

I have one bantam! She is a house chicken, mostly. She goes outside for a bit to mingle with the flock and comes back inside at night to sleep in her little crate in my room. Bantams are wonderful. They’re so friendly and cuddly mine loves to follow me around in the yard and let me pet her beard. Their eggs are actually I found not much smaller than my golden comets. Sometimes she’ll even lay a same size egg and I’m so amazed at her! She is my first bantam and definitely not my last. They are a little pea brained but I think my girl is just a little dumb . If you’re adding bantams, they will get bullied heavily. I’ve had my bantam for a year and she’s still not accepted into the flock and not even allowed into the coop without a whole uprising from my big girls. So just be mindful, integrating bantams is not easy. If they are attacked it can be brutal. My first attempt integrating them led it a piece of her crown being bitten off. It’s really difficult! Especially if they are drastically different colors and makeup than your regular chickens. Like them having boots or most of your chickens being brown and the bantam being white. Other than that, I don’t regret getting her at all if I’m being honest she’s a lot more sweeter than regular laying hens and I see a lot of people online with bantams having the same experience. If you’re willing to take the risk of integrating and the possibility of them not being accepted and having their own separate space, you’ll find a lot of love in something so tiny. Here’s a picture of my silly bearded moonbeam bantam good luck on whatever decision you make!

Meyers sells sexed bantams and i think ideal has a few breeds of sexed bantams

MyPetChicken also has sexed bantams.

 

[Callender Girl]

Gee, maybe it's only the Iowa hatcheries/feed stores I deal with that don't sell sexed bantams? On the other hand, knowing I could end up with more roosters probably is the best way to keep me from giving in to my chicken math and getting more of those little jewels!

 

[SueT]

Cackle sexes some of their bantams, but not most….check for the breeds you want…