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Donna Belcher McGleason I see people have regular sized chickens and bantams mixed together all the time. Is it wise? Do they get along? Can larger chickens hurt bantams? What’s the best setting for mixing different sizes of chicken, if you do? Let’s face it, chickens are far more complex creatures than people give them credit for being. Their social system and even herd personality can be a factor.
Wisdom seems to come from the way both young and old chickens are combined. Twice now, I’ve had regular size and bantam raised chicks together and they are doing just fine. They coexist and share their roosts, food, water and treats with the usual amount of chicken fights. Rose & Violet, my Black Copper Marans who grew up with my silkies, Poppy & Daffodil, choose to sleep in the silk barn sometimes rather than the larger girls.
I think some of the wisdom of that also comes from the amount of space the chickens share. Do they reach free range? Are they confined to a large or small distance? Are they crammed into a coop that’s too small to sleep at night? How many are there together? These are the questions I recommend asking yourself when you’re fixing the math and want to combine chicken sizes. Additionally, what is the personality of your flock? Do you have some evil chickens or maybe a mean rooster? Do rewards bring out the worst in feathered chicks?
My problem comes when I try to combine bantams with other, larger hens in the entire flock. Although I’ve tried to put bantams into tried-and-true integration methods, some of my chickens are anything but mean. I realize that pecking order is a big part of larger girls picking on younger girls but I’m not up for chicken bloodbaths on an ongoing basis. This is not to say that some bantams “don’t rule the roost” because they do, it hasn’t been my experience. I’ve even built a large covered day 35″ by 10″ with doors that open individually to keep all arguments to a minimum, but I’ve found that not only do I need to separate my older girls from the rest of the flock, I also need to keep my silk clothes secure, too.
To be with the big girls.
Yes, large chickens can hurt bantams because their size is next to it. Not that they will definitely do it but they can. When I had two pairs of white brushed black bantam chickens and now I have two silkies, not only are they small, but they also have knotted feathers that block their view which makes staying out of the way a little more difficult.
So is there a magic formula for mixing regular-sized chicken with bantams? no. It is best to sample your flock according to how much space you have, if they are raised together, are they freed, are they confined, the number of chickens in your flock and even the personality of your flock.