Hybrid hens vs bantams

[Nettlers]

Morning all,

Looking for general advice please.

A few years ago I adopted some ex batties, when these died I decided to have a break as had a new baby, wooden coop and red mite issues!!

Now my kids are 8 and 5, we want to return to being hen keepers. I have bought an Eglu Go Up with 1m run extension, so 3 metres in total. The hope is to put the set up on my veg patch so that the girls can dig over, weed and fertilise and we will move the set up each year with crop rotation. We will have them free ranging in the garden whilst we are in the garden, but this may not be every day.

I am concerned foremost with the space provided by the run. So my question is do I get 2-3 smaller hybrid hens or some bantams (unsure of amount, help needed). I haven't kept bantams before and don't know anyone with them. I don't want feathery feet as they will mostly be on soil.

Any pointers on the pro's and con's would be much appreciated. Hoping that the children will be heavily involved in care of the girls too.

[Mo]

The children will enjoy them whichever you get.
I've never kept bantams but used to buy bantam eggs from a friend - they were not too tiny (but maybe some breeds of bantam lay smaller eggs) the yolks seemed quite a reasonable size.

[Mo]

We usually say a minimum 1 sq metre / hybrid. And 3 is better than 2 in case (when) one dies. Hens are flock birds, happier with company.
With this small run you will be in difficulties when you need to introduce new hens. If you introduce a lone hen it might be picked on. If the run is crowded the new birds have less space to get away.

I suppose if you get bantams you can start with a run that is less than full to give you room if you need a couple more when one dies or the egg production slows down.

[Minxy]

Hi!

Most of the true bantams are all 'booted' (feathered legs) eg: Sabelpoots, Pekin, Burmese. The ones that spring to mind that are not booted are: Sebrights, Polands and the Belgian Barbu d'Anvers. Hope that helps!

[kitla]

I have a bantam orpington, she is lovely natured, beautiful & lays well. My cockerel is a bantam wyandotte, again very friendly & pretty. But the downside to purebreeds, large or small, is that they go broody quite often where as hybrids rarely do. Lots of chicken keepers on here started with a small run but soon ended up building a walk in one. More space for the chooks & an awful lot easier to manage. Bear in mind sadly free ranging is not an option at the moment due to the avian flu outbreak :(

[Nettlers]

Thankyou for your replies so far. I am aware of the restrictions currently with the avian flu,awaiting the next update on 28th Feb i believe, before making decisions. We used to have a 12ft x 12ft run which we dismantled after our hens were caught by fox. We made the whole area a veg plot. I'm sure like you say the area will eventually be extended, we are planning changes to the garden too, so this may be a consideration.

[Minxy]

But the downside to purebreeds, large or small, is that they go broody quite often where as hybrids rarely do.

Hello Kitla! I fully agree with you regarding Orpingtons, mine were notorious for going broody. But I have to say, of all the breeds I've kept in the past, it was only ever the Orps for me and the hybrids. My other pures weren't really interested in going broody. Perhaps I got lucky?

[Cheshire Chick]

I have never kept pure breeds of any kind, always hybrids. I just love the hybrids for their lovely personalities and characters. I have thought about pure breeds when I have lost girls due to laying issues (as this seems to be quite common in the hybrids), but I just couldn't resist these gorgeous brown girls. Good luck with your chicken keeping, whatever you decide. There is a lady who has a blog, she is called Chicken Carol and she keeps bantums. Might be worth having a look at how she does things. All the best.

[ChickenCarol]

I am biased but I just love bantams. There are lots of bantams that have no feathered feet and don't go broody which have been part of my criteria. They need less space, do smaller poops, eat less food and the eggs have the same size yolks but less white so all of that is good for me. Egg laying is erratic compared to hybrids but they will lay for longer and possibly live longer as they are not wearing themselves out due to mechanical egg laying. They have loads of personality and are so very cute. Check my blog if you need more information. I started with big girls and evolved into bantams and would never go back now. I now have seramas which are the smallest chickens in the world and lay all year round as they moult a few feathers at a time all year round. They are the cutest chickens I have come across and are really friendly. I intend on adding a few more soon. Go to information about my bantam breeds to find out more about each breed. I just love them so much, hope this is useful to you.

[Nettlers]

Chickencarol in your experienced opinion with a small run area of 1.5m x 3m what would be a fair number of bantams for that space, bearing in mind free ranging would only be possible while we are at home and outside, prob an hour a day in fair weather.

I have had a little look at your blog, the wyndottes are so pretty, I will see if I can find a local breeder, I also like the light sussex bantam, as I am in Sussex I'd quite like this breed too

[ChickenCarol]

Even though I have bantams I tend to go along with what others have said that you need a square meter per hen and the more you can give them the better. My run is large at 12 metres by 4 metres but my girls don't free range as our garden isn't suitable. I keep 8 in this size run although I have 6 at the moment due to losing some older girls last summer. I intend to add 2 or 3 more this weekend. I would say perhaps start with 3 and see how you get on.

My favourites are the seramas and the game girl followed by my ancona and in the past vorwerks. Wyndottes are pretty but can go broody although I was lucky and mine didn't. The brown leghorns are good too. I don't have white sussex, I think you may have mistaken my white serama for this breed but I would consider white sussex, just didn't have any available near me. We are always constrained by what we can find in our area. I would have like seabrights or dutch bantams in the past but again not available near me.

I have always thought that Emerald, my game girl was the most beautiful girl and she has a lovely nature too but game girls have a shorter egg laying season. Seramas are cute and in a small space you could probably fit a few more of them.

Another thing to bear in mind if free ranging is that bantams are very flighty. My run has a roof and is predator proof. Having said that I know a farmer who has a mixed flock with bantams free ranging, but I am happier with mine safely contained. Also I have lots of perches as bantams really like to perch up.

I hope this is helpful. Do let us know what you decide and how you get on. There is always helpful advice and support here and of course we do all love to see photos.

[Richard]

Super replies.

All I'd say is Bantams are usually more 'attractive' but they lay smaller eggs !!

Space is key of course.

Richard

[KarenE]

Just to chuck my two penceworth in, if you are planning changes in your garden, I'd suggest you consider your run design along with it - it's better to get the run right first time round if you can - lots of us start with a small run then quickly decide we need to extend it, make it walk-in and it can be quite a pain. It sounds like you've got an opportunity to start well from the off so I'd recommend taking a bit of time to work out your run site, space and design. There's a thread of members chicken coops at the top of this page which might spark some dieas off.

And I heartily agree with what everyone else has said - go as large as you can (minimum 2-3 sq metres per bird and ideally LOTS more (I've seen recommendations of 10sq ft per bird in the run) as more space = easier intros, less bullying and happier hens; walk-in with height so the birds can perch and you can clean easier; and roofed to help make it more predator proof and better in winter as no mud

I haven't kept bantams, I'm a mixed hybrid and ex batt keeper. Whatever you keep, chickens make brilliant pets and your children will love them

[Minxy]

[Nettlers]

[quote="KarenE"]Just to chuck my two penceworth in, if you are planning changes in your garden, I'd suggest you consider your run design along with it - it's better to get the run right first time round if you can - lots of us start with a small run then quickly decide we need to extend it, make it walk-in and it can be quite a pain. It sounds like you've got an opportunity to start well from the off so I'd recommend taking a bit of time to work out your run site, space and design.

Thanks KarenE, so a lot of thought since 5am when I woke up after dreaming of chickens!!
Yes I agree, I think I still like the Eglu coop but now looking at building a roofed run, especially taking into consideration bird flu outbreaks current and future, so the brakes are on a bit, and let's get it right first time. Just gutted we took the old run down! Would have just needed a roof popping on .