Texas

Next question.  A friend told me that they their friend thought bantam eggs were better tasting (no idea why) which got me thinking about those cute little bantam hens.  All the chickens I want come in bantam size (except the EE's?).  So, which is better to keep in a big fenced yard?  Are bantams more likely to fly?  If that is the case I will stick with large fowl.  I have big trees all around me with hawks, owls and falcons.  I don't want to lose a bird.  Bantams lay a more medium sized egg for the most part, right?

Bantams can fly like a bird :eek: Have OEGB's & Dutch I have netting over their entire pen to keep them in
700
 
I wish a cow would show up at our house


My low was 28, and that wasn't even the low spot on the property where the garden is....  We covered what we could and I haven't had the heart to see what didn't make it.  I closed my eyes when I pulled off the covers.

Hope you had better luck with covering then I have, in year's past I tried that, it didn't work for us. :(
 
Next question. A friend told me that they their friend thought bantam eggs were better tasting (no idea why) which got me thinking about those cute little bantam hens. All the chickens I want come in bantam size. So, which is better to keep in a big fenced yard? Are bantams more likely to fly? If that is the case I will stick with large fowl. I have big trees all around me with hawks, owls and falcons. I don't want to lose a bird. Bantams lay a more medium sized egg for the most part, right?
I have a few types of Bantams and they all fly VERY well, whereas my big girls are lucky if they can get a short glide a few inches off the ground with a long running start.
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Also, the smaller size of the bantams makes them easier prey for a lot of things like hawks and owls and stuff I think. As for the medium egg, mine don't lay anything near that big, they are all teensy and cute.
 
My betta has a 4 gallon planted ADA tank with a tiny heater. He stays nice and warm year round. :)
Wow, you have chicken, fish, horse; look like you have everything, even jellybean .. wow !

When I was young, I raised roosters, crickets, and fish. I like guppies, gold fish for their pretty but I like bettas the most. Now getting older and uglier, I can only find roosters and Betta ... raising them to remember the childhood. So every time I fell in love with a lady, whenever she told me "I love you", my next question always be "how about my chicken and my fish?"

And we live happily everafter. The End.
 
Wow, you have chicken, fish, horse; look like you have everything, even jellybean .. wow !

When I was young, I raised roosters, crickets, and fish. I like guppies, gold fish for their pretty but I like bettas the most. Now getting older and uglier, I can only find roosters and Betta ... raising them to remember the childhood. So every time I fell in love with a lady, whenever she told me "I love you", my next question always be "how about my chicken and my fish?"

And we live happily everafter. The End.
I don't have a horse. Yet. I do have 3 cats (rescues) and a black German Shepherd and my betta. I have two boys too but they aren't little anymore-19 and 21 yrs.

The little girl I watch along with her brother (twins) calls me Ms Jellybean. I call her snickerdoodle. :)


I will be keeping big birds. I don't think I can deal with little birds that want to fly away and could get eaten by the birds or prey here. I want to let my birds out in the yard. Photography is a hobby of mine so my chickens will be new subjects.
 
His first two races he didn't start so they sent him back to school. lol! I really wanted him at that point. He has done well ever since then. Dang I wish he was mine.

You can track him down. His last owner was his breeder. Owners and trainers are usually happy to give geldings away to a good home after they have finished racing.
 
I don't have a horse. Yet. I do have 3 cats (rescues) and a black German Shepherd and my betta. I have two boys too but they aren't little anymore-19 and 21 yrs.

The little girl I watch along with her brother (twins) calls me Ms Jellybean. I call her snickerdoodle. :)


I will be keeping big birds. I don't think I can deal with little birds that want to fly away and could get eaten by the birds or prey here. I want to let my birds out in the yard. Photography is a hobby of mine so my chickens will be new subjects.
So you are about 40 +/-2 ... my guess.

This spring I will go to Livingston, TX (north of Houston) to buy a pair of Texas Utility Pigeons; this will be a gift for my friend in Askansas. This friend wants large pigeon, and I believe Texas Utility is about 3.5 lbs .. as big as a chicken.
 
The worst part about the tome change is that I let the girls out rt before I leave for work and they have put themselves back in their coop before I get home. I never see them!!
ME TOOOOO :( makes me sooooooooooo sad!!!!!!!! So I have to coax them out to say hello in the evening with a flashlight and OATMEAL ;)
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Next question. A friend told me that they their friend thought bantam eggs were better tasting (no idea why) which got me thinking about those cute little bantam hens. All the chickens I want come in bantam size. So, which is better to keep in a big fenced yard? Are bantams more likely to fly? If that is the case I will stick with large fowl. I have big trees all around me with hawks, owls and falcons. I don't want to lose a bird. Bantams lay a more medium sized egg for the most part, right?

Bantams lay a pee wee sized egg (35 grams) or smaller. My largest egg has been 39 grams from 8-month bantams. A small egg is 43 grams. I have a large fowl Ameraucana whose biggest egg was 54 grams. She's young still, but pound for pound I think the bantams give a bigger egg. There is no difference between a bantam egg, a large fowl egg, or a blue, white, brown or green egg. The difference in flavor and nutritional content will be from the foods those birds eat, not the size or color of the egg.

Yes, bantams are more likely to fly unless they have frizzled or silkied feathers. Flying has not been an issue I've ever worried about. They don't try to leave home and are very upset if they find themselves on the wrong side of a fence. I have a couple of Polish who fly up into a tree and thoroughly enjoy surveying their world from 10 feet up.

No bird is completely safe from predation unless in a completely covered pen with wire/concrete going down 18 inches or so into the ground. You can reduce the chance of flying predators by making it riskier for the hawk. First off, never leave them outside at night and you won't have an owl problem although owls will hunt at dusk (and my silly birds don't go to bed until late). Make sure the wire on your coop is small enough and strong enough that nothing can get their hands or talons inside and tear your birds out through the wire piece by piece. Hawks won't (usually) fly down to take prey where they can't easily escape. Running deer netting over the big open areas will discourage avian predators. They won't feel safe being compromised killing big prey if they don't have a clear escape route. It doesn't need to be perfect, just make it all inconvenient for them. Give your birds lots of safe areas they can run under if and when someone sends up the predator alarm call. Keep a rooster--their job in life, other than to breed the hens, is to guard the flock. They are your first line of defense against a predator attack. A dog also dissuades predation unless the dog becomes the predator.
 

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