Silkies, Pekins or Bantams

[MixedNutPlate]

Which are friendliest, egg production a bonus not an essential.

Small run and house unit when home alone in fenced veg garden and FR when were home.

TY, not sure which Bantams but am erring on the side of Silkies.

silkies not very hardy at all, go broody all the time and don't lay much at all. are however really really cute.

Ah, maybe not then as DH does bake.

I have pekins and silkies. Tbh I much prefer my pekins. They are friendly, easy to tame and extremely amusing when they run (think victorian ladies lifting their skirts). The silkies are skittish, dopey, bloody noisy (think turkey) and are constantly broody. The silkies will not be replaced. However, I have just hatched 3 pekins

Lavender pekins are lovely. poos are small so good for a small garden. Feathered feet don't cope with mud or long grass.

Incubator-reared birds tend to be easier to handle than broody-reared birds imo.

Oh yes, my pekins don't dig up my lawn. After two years I still have a nice lawn They do all dig in the borders, though

Thank You Muchly, Pekins sounds like the ones.

I have a Lavender Araucana Bantam and she is lovely, quite a character and really sweet. She seems quite hardy and they are meant to be pretty tough. She hasn't started laying yet, but they are also meant to have pretty decent egg production and lay biggish eggs for a bantam.

If I was after more bantams I'd definitely get another/some more.

Thanks everyone.

really depends on the bantam breed,some are fiesty,some are chummy.i have a hamburg and a wyandotte (both bantams).The wyandotte should be the friendliest as they are usually easy to tame,but actually she is the shyest and the flighty hamburg is more friendly.I would go look at some birdies and choose the ones that seem to like you irrespective of type.

Agree Hellymelly but they need to be little ones so trying to be practical.

Well japanese are very tiny,and the little dutch ones,but mine are small,the wyandotte is teeny compared to the full size version I had first.My friend has pekins and they are lovely and very tame but the legs can be a pain if they get muddy,so I went for a clean legged breed.

Thank you list is growing

I have nothing but silkies (about 50 atm) and would say that in my experience they don't go broody any more often than my sister's pekins. They aren't the most prolific egg producers but they do lay all year, when most bantams don't. I find them pretty hardy - they suffer from normal chook ailments but not anymore than any other breeds. They are good natured (they get cuddled by DS1 often) and perhaps a bit less smart than your average chicken.

I keep large fowl silkies (which are not very big - they're a light feather breed) but you can get bantam silkies as well.

I love silkies,they are gorgeous,but I worry about the plumage getting wet (we are in Wales)and them getting soggy and chilled.Are yours under cover porridge?

No, Helly - they have covered areas but don't mind the wet. I show mine and many breeders keep their stock inside for the winter (and sometimes the summer) to protect the plumage but it's not essential. They don't come to any harm being outside. Actually when I, ahem, wash my Silkies I have noticed that the majority of feathers don't get wet simply by pouring water over the chicken or even dunking it in water. The underfeathers stay dry until you apply water them to them directly. So if a Silkie has been out in the rain - it may look a bit bedraggled but will be dry underneath.

Yay for MNP adding Silkies back on list.

Porridge they re my first choice but was discouraged by brooding/non laying so might get 2 silkies and 2 pekins.

Going to see some Gold Partridge Pekins and some Pekin x Silkies on Monday from a local henbod :o

Got my girls today.

Betty a 12wk old Black Silkie

Flo & Hilda 18 wk old Gold Partridge Pekins, Flo has darker red bits on face and darker head and body plumage and a bright yellow ring on each leg

& Mabel a Black and silver Cuckoo Maren who is only 8wks old.

The are handleable and were living together in a pen with about 20 hens so hopefully no real settling issues.

Have spent the afternoon chatting and petting them.