DArby
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4 Little Chickens at HomeWent and picked up 4 Wyandotte Bantams on Saturday afternoon 
They look great and we were able to have a selection of feathering so have a Columbian, Silver Pencil, Barred and Laced.
All around 14-16 weeks, so im told they should be just about ready to start laying. We had one egg on Sunday but nothing since.
This may be a stupid question, but will the Chickens and Eggs get any bigger ?
There were some one year old Wyandottes in the next run and i'm sure they looked bigger than the ones we've got.
The one egg, that is safely stored in the fridge, almost fell through the egg rack - its about the same size as a Caburys Creme Egg - this may be an optical illusion though as the Creme Eggs get smaller ever year 
Another possibly stupid question, do you leave their food and water out at night in the run, or put it in with them ?
Oh - and thanks to Sazjaz (sara) who put me in touch with the seller of these Chickens.
Dean.
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Treacodactyl
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The eggs will get bigger, may not be the full size of large shop eggs but the first few from a new hen tend to be quite small. Not sure about the hens but I expect they will grow a bit more.
As for food an water, hens will sleep at night so there's no need to put the food in when they are shut up and I don't put the water in either unless it's very hot and there's a chance the hens will not be let out early the next day.
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Mrs Fiddlesticks
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what TD said,
plus our new hens have only just started laying and I'd say their eggs are Cad Creme Egg sized as well, but we expect them to get bigger as the girls grow.
Oh and DArby what are their names?? 
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Bugs
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Re: 4 Little Chickens at Home | DArby wrote: | | Went and picked up 4 Wyandotte Bantams on Saturday afternoon ... This may be a stupid question, but will the Chickens and Eggs get any bigger ? |
We had large birds (Sussex) and they were 12 and 15 weeks when we got them, and all had quite a bit of growing to do so if it's the same for yours then you might see the same. Do they have a sort of gangly awkward teenage look at the moment?
As for the eggs, again they did start off rather small, in fact we've still got the first two eggs, blown, at home, because we are indeed that sad  - I would say eggs they lay now, when they lay which is never because they're lazy spoiled little hussies who ought to be put in a stew, are at least twice the size of the first ones. So again I'd imagine they'd get a little bigger but remember as yours are bantams their eggs I believe will always be a fair bit smaller than any egg you buy. You'll need to make allowances for that if you cook with them - I think a medium egg in most recipes is meant to be 2oz, is that right?
How big was the first egg, DArby?
By the way they sound lovely, one of my favourite pieces of advice I've heard for choosing birds is make your final choice based one what you like because it'll make it much more fun to look after them so it's good that you like the look of them as well as everything else.
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Blue Sky
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| Treacodactyl wrote: | | As for food an water, hens will sleep at night so there's no need to put the food in when they are shut up and I don't put the water in either unless it's very hot and there's a chance the hens will not be let out early the next day. |
Hmmmmm? Shouldn't you be putting the food and water into the huts at present and not in the run at all. Migratory birds, Avian flu .... and all that. Or do you have covered runs?
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DArby
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| Fiddlesticks Julie wrote: |
Oh and DArby what are their names?? |
Mavis, Mildred, Maggie, Marge
We choose Mildred as we've been watching re-runs of George & Mildred on Paramount....
It then had to be M's for the rest - Mavis as it seemed appropriate, Maggie and Marge subconsiously because of the Simpsons i guess.
Dean.
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DArby
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| simon wrote: | | Treacodactyl wrote: | | As for food an water, hens will sleep at night so there's no need to put the food in when they are shut up and I don't put the water in either unless it's very hot and there's a chance the hens will not be let out early the next day. |
Hmmmmm? Shouldn't you be putting the food and water into the huts at present and not in the run at all. Migratory birds, Avian flu .... and all that. Or do you have covered runs? |
They're covered runs.
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DArby
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Re: 4 Little Chickens at Home | Bugs wrote: |
How big was the first egg, DArby?
By the way they sound lovely, one of my favourite pieces of advice I've heard for choosing birds is make your final choice based one what you like because it'll make it much more fun to look after them so it's good that you like the look of them as well as everything else. |
The egg is about the size of a Cadburys Creme Egg.
I'm glad we went for the Wyandottes as they are better to look at - initially i was looking at the obvious Rhode Island Reds, Black Rocks etc., but they're not as much fun for the kids to look at and of course all the visitors that seem keen to come see the chooks.
Dean.
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Bugs
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Re: 4 Little Chickens at Home | DArby wrote: | | The egg is about the size of a Cadburys Creme Egg. |
 I don't really know how big that is (can't stand the things and as you say they do seem to get smaller every year!)
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judith
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If they are bantam eggs, then they will always be small - they won't get to the size of what I think of as a "normal" hen's egg. You will probably need to use 3 bantam eggs where you would use 2 from a hen. They do look cute, though.
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sunnyside
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I always have the feed in the house as it encourages vermin in the run(they always spill some and don't always pick up!)-water in the run-under cover-except when weathers warm then that goes in the house at night too.
First eggs are titchy-bantam eggs don't get very big but they will get bigger as will your hens.
It takes a few weeks for egg production to kick in properly when they start so eggs will probably be a bit sporadic for a while then they will get into a more predicatable pattern of laying.
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DArby
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Checked the Hens when i got home today - and two eggs were waiting !!
One was almost 'small' commercial size.
Dean.
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