mixing hens question ??

[Seamus]

evenin all, as usual im asking a question, is it ok to mix hens with bantam hens in their house, as in, big breeds with small breeds, and is dere any breeds not suited together ???

[RichmondHens]

Some do, some don't. Partly depends on whether you have just hens, or cocks too. My bantam and large fowl flocks are kept separately. In the days when I had just a few of each I found the big and small did not get on together (the little ones got picked on) and they have been apart ever since. But others may have different experiences. My flocks are separated into one flock of bantam layers, and two flocks of large fowl layers. The cocks will fight if they get together, and the bantam cocks can be very aggressive. As always, try it and see. They may all just get along as one happy family, or they may not.

[Bramble-Poultry]

for years i kept a small trio of Hamburg Hen bantams in with my lohmann hybrids and they got on fine. Now i am left with only one hamburg she gets nailed, so i muxed in some pekins to even up the numbers and they get nailed.

As richmond says, each bird is different and i think you just have to suck and see

[walldanzig]

I put a couple of Bantams in with some established large fowls. It's the only time I have had to remove hens from each other the bantams where pecked within an inch of their life. That was just one experiance though others may have had different experiance. I think the temprement of the birds has a lot to do with it

[its hilly]

My flock is mixed banty and large, they mostly get on ok. But they are free range on about 1.5acres so they arnt under each others feet all the time, and housing is a 14ft x 10ft loose box with around 30ft of various perches for 25 chooks, so again not crowded. The banty hens do sem to be bottom of the heap, but with room to get out of the way it only seems to matter when they all crowd round my feet for fusses chats and treats.

[Birdie Wife]

It depends mostly on the breed of hen - a big hen like a Buff Orpington is a great big softie and can get picked on by a smaller, feistier hen like one of the game breeds. Mine all run together, and as long as there is room to run away from trouble, and you have at least two of each type so they have a friend to run about with - having one bantam amongst a group of big hens wouldn't be fair - then there's no reason really why they shouldn't be in any more trouble than any new birds added to the flock. The only caveat I would make is that Polish bantams are particularly susceptible to bullying, as they have great big pom poms on their heads and often just can't see well enough to stay out of trouble.