Feathered Friends
Bantam chickens are fun to raise! Includes information on getting started, hatching chicks, care and feeding.
January/February 1987
By Dan Barker
Issue # 103 - January/February 1987
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MOTHER'S CHILDREN
Bantam chickens are fun to raise!
MOTHER knows that many youths undertake interesting, original projects and start their own small businesses. To support these endeavors, we buy and publish well-written articles from children and teenagers concerning their efforts. However, we recommend that all young authors query (that is, send us a letter telling about the story they'd like to do) before writing a full article. Send your queries to Mother's Children, MOTHER EARTH NEWS, P.O. Box 70, Hendersonville, NC 28793.
Hello! I'm Dan Barker, and I've been raising bantam chickens for three years. I keep bantams because they are small, friendly, and colorful. They give eggs for the table and manure for the garden. And they don't even need a lot of living space.
Getting Started
After you've purchased your bantams, take them home to your barn or shed or garage. The birds' area should have chicken wire on the sides and top. Put your new bantams in the wired-off area with plenty of feed and water. Add some apple crates for hens to nest in. Keep them penned up for about two days. After that, they'll consider that place their home and won't fly off if you let them out.
I keep my bantam cage in a barred stall. If a stray dog tries to catch them, they can slip quickly through the bars into their safe stall. Some people trim their chickens' wing feath ers so they can't fly off. I don't do this. That way if my bantams are in danger far from the barn, they can fly into a tree or onto a fence.
I spray some roost paint (available at a feed mill) on the chickens' roosts to prevent lice and other diseases. I also give the birds a large tray of hardwood ashes—which I clean out every two months. They take dust baths in that to "wash" off parasites.
Hatching Chicks
Bantams are great at setting on eggs (many chickens aren't). I count my hens every day so I'll notice if one starts wanting to make a nest (gets "broody") and begins laying her eggs in a separate place from the rest of the flock. If you notice one is missing, look in any hiding spots that have straw or hay until you find her nest.
When you have a broody hen, mark the eggs you want hatched with a pencil and take out the rest. You can even take other hens' eggs—up to 12 total—and give them to her to hatch. After 21 days have passed, move the broody hen and nest into a crate in a stall with feed and water. Other than that, disturb her as little as possible. If you startle her suddenly, she might reject the eggs.
