Ozark Bantams: Frequently Asked Questions

What type of bantam and ornamental fowl do you raise?

At Ozark Bantams, we raise feather-footed cochin bantams in both the black and white color variety. We also raise several bantam duck breeds including white call ducks and the black east indies duck. In wild waterfowl, we raise mandarin ducks. Mandarins are a wild migratory duck related to the North American Wood Duck. Mandarins are native to Eastern Asia (Siberia, East China, and Japan). We also raise red golden pheasants, an ornamental breed of wild pheasant native to the mountains of Central China.

Why do you raise cochin bantams? What are your breeding goals?

We raise cochin bantams primarily as a hobby. Our bantams provide us with enjoyment and table eggs. Our flock is an ongoing project. At present, we are striving for a line of healthy cochins bantams that are good egg layers, have high fertility, and are true to breed type. Our line of cochin bantams exhibit very good type (i.e. appearance) and excellent egg production (i.e. utility). In other words, we strive for form AND function! Keep in mind that we are a hobby farm, not breeders of show quality exhibition birds.

Do you sell hatching eggs? If so, how much do they cost?

Yes, we do sell hatching eggs from our cochin bantam flock. However, we do not have hatching eggs available at all times. We typically have hatching eggs available for sale during the spring and summer months. Please contact us for our current availability. The price for six bantam cochin hatching eggs is $15. The price for one dozen hatching eggs is $28 dollars. These prices include the cost of packaging and USPS Priority shipping. We accept payment via PayPal only. We occasionally have bantam duck eggs available for sale as well. We do not sell mandarin or golden pheasant hatching eggs. These eggs are simply too valuable for shipping, and artificial incubation is too risky. Instead, we sometimes have mandarins and golden pheasants for sale as ducklings, chicks, and/or started birds.

What is your policy on shipped hatching eggs? How do you ship hatching eggs?

We have extremely high hatch rates from our eggs here on the farm. Nonetheless, we make no guarantee concerning the hatchability of shipped eggs! Keep in mind that once the eggs have been shipped, their handling is entirely out of our control. Moreover, we are unable to control any incubation variables that may adversely effect your hatch rate. Therefore we can not guarantee the hatchability of the eggs you recieve. With that in mind, we will make every reasonable effort to insure that the eggs you purchase from us arrive to you as expected. We wrap each egg in bubble wrap, then place the eggs in a styrofoam egg carton. This is then wrapped with more bubble wrap or other packing material. Your eggs will be shipped via USPS Priority Mail.

Do you use natural or artificial incubation? What kind of incubator do you use?

We actually use both natural and artificial incubation for hatching eggs. Cochin bantams are well known for their inclination to broodiness. They are very eager to sit on eggs and make great mothers. You can usually put a few eggs out for a cochin hen and she will be sitting on them within a couple of days, if not hours!. When necessary, we even use our cochin hens to hatch the eggs of our call ducks, mandarins, and golden pheasants.

On the other hand, it is not always practical or advisable to use natural incubation. Hens don't always cooperate with your schedule or hatching plans. For instance, we frequently need our hens laying eggs instead of sitting on eggs. As such, we sometimes use artifical incubation for hatching eggs. For artifical egg incubation we use only Brinsea products. Brinsea is one of the leading manufacturers of incubators and other avian products. And their incubators are well known for quality construction and advanced technology. We currently use the Brinsea Mini Advance for artificial egg incubation.

The Brinsea Mini Advance incubator features automatic egg turning, fan-assited air circulation, and digital tempature control. In fact, all of the Mini Advance's settings are digital and fully programable. With its standard seven egg hatching tray, the Mini Advance is ideal for small hatches. It can also be fitted with an optional twelve egg hatching tray for smaller eggs (i.e. quail and pheasant eggs). The Mini Advance is great for those looking for a set-and-go incubator that requires minimal maintanance during incubation. With its advanced features and easy-to-use set up, the Brinsea Mini Advance is ideal for both the novice and the professional breeder. So if you're in the market for a new incubator, we would certainly recommend the Brinsea Mini Advance. You can click the banner below to visit Brinsea's web site right now.

What should I feed my bantam chickens?

We feed our bantams a diet which consists primarily of quality layer crumbles. This type of poultry feed typically contains 16% protein and is specifically formulated for laying flocks. This diet is supplemented with regular access to greens. Feed corn can be offered as a treat during the spring, summer, and fall. You don't, however, want them eating too much corn during the laying season. It will keep them fat and, quite frankly, lazy. If they are in this condition, they will lay fewer eggs. During the winter months, however, corn can be mixed in with your flock's regular layer crumbles at a ratio of 3 parts crumbles to 1 part corn. This extra corn will help them put on weight and help them produce more heat in the colder months. Chicks should be fed unmedicated chick starter until they are old enough for layer crumbles. Bantams need access to clean water at all times.

What should I feed my bantam ducks?

Most duck breeders recommend a quailty duck feed such as Matzuri. Unfortunately, duck feed is not always cost effective for the backyard poultry hobbyist, nor is it available in all areas of the country. As such, a gamebird feed or quality chicken feed can be used in lieu of duck feed. At Ozark Bantams, we feed our bantam ducks the same layer crumbles that we give to our bantam chickens; however, we also give them whole wheat oats. Keep in mind that ducks need access to clean drinking water at all times. Furthermore, the water should be deep enough for the ducks to submerge and clean their nostrils.

What are the minimum space requirements for bantam chickens?

According to most sources, 2ft by 2ft is the minimum floor space requirement for bantam chickens. Therefore, a 64 square foot chicken coop could house up to 16 bantams. This interior space requirement assumes that the birds will also have access to at least some outside pen space. In other words, the birds should have access to an outside pen in addition to their inside floor space requirements. For example, our cochin bantams live in a 64 square foot (8ft by 8ft) chicken house. This provides four square foot of interior space for each bird. However, our bantams also have 112 square feet of additional outside pen space.

How do you house your bantam ducks?

Our bantam ducks are kept in raised pens during the spring, summer, and fall. During the winter, however, the ducks are usually moved into the main chicken house to cut down on our work load, which would otherwise involve refilling numerous feeders and waterers. The raised pens are 4ft wide by 8ft long. They are contructed of pressure treated lumber and include a covered shelter, as well as a small plastic pond. The floor of these pens is made of harware cloth. In our experience, this type of housing has many advantages over ground pens. For instance, raised pens are cleanier as any water splashed out of the pond or drinking bowls will fall underneath the pen. Moreover, the ducks have no contact with dirt. As such, they are unable to create mud puddles. To find out more about our raised pens, please visit the coop section by following the link below.

How do you get my hen to go broody (i.e. hatch and raise a clutch of eggs)?

As long as they have available eggs to sit on, a hen will become broody at her own discretion. I usually let a few dummy eggs gather up in a nest box and a hen ends up sitting on them in a matter of days. I then place the eggs I want hatched under the hen. However, we keep cochin bantams which are notorious for being frequently broody. Some breeds, such as production leghorns, aren't inclined to broodiness at all. There are several variables that play a role in broodiness such as the breed, health, and age of the bird. Besides letting some eggs pile up or offering plastic eggs, there is no way to force a hen into broodiness. Nature will just have to kick in.

How long does it take to incubate a chicken egg? duck and pheasant eggs?

The incubation period for chicken eggs is 21 days. The incubation period for duck eggs varies according to breed. However, most domestic duck breeds hatch in 28 days. Call ducks, on the other hand, require only 26 days to hatch. Mandarin and wood duck eggs require 30 days to hatch. Most pheasant eggs hatch within 22 to 24 days. For instance, the eggs of the golden pheasant and its mutations require 23 days to hatch.

What are the correct tempature and humidity requirements for incubating eggs?

The correct tempature for incubating chicken eggs in a forced-air incubator is 99.5 degrees. This tempature must be maintained (within a degree or so) throughout the duration of the incubation period. When purchasing an incubator, look for a model that includes fan-assisted air circulation and easy tempature control.

According to most sources, the correct humidity for hatching chicken eggs is 40-50%. Two or three days before hatch, the humidity should be increased by 10-15%. Keep in mind, that the last two or three days before the hatch are critical. As such, you should not turn the eggs during this period or even open the incubator unless absolutely necessary. Note that duck eggs require a relative humidity of 45-55% for proper incubation.

In our experience, if you a dealing with valuable or hard-to-hatch eggs, its best to leave incubation up to the hen. For instance, I would not attempt to hatch mandarin eggs in an incubator. On the other hand, I would not hesitate to give those same eggs to a bantam cochin hen to hatch. Its not that mandarin or other valuable eggs can not be hatch in an incubator, but rather that most people (including myself) are not nearly as successful at artificial incubation as a hen is at natural incubation.

Do you have any advice for those planning to incubate call duck eggs?

Call duck eggs are notorious for being difficult to hatch. Nonetheless, we have had good success with incubating these eggs with both natural and artificial incubation. Our hatch rate for call duck eggs has consistently been in the 80% to 95% range. If you are not very experienced with artifical incubation, it might be best to leave call duck egg incubation up to a broody hen. Our cochin bantams have incubated call duck eggs successfully, and as they make great mothers to call ducklings.

The temperature for incubating call duck eggs is 99.5 in a forced-air incubator. The incubation period for call duck eggs is 26 to 27 days, with eggs from show quality lines tending more toward 26 days. We try to keep the relative humidity around 50% during incubation. Humdity should be increased to 70% several days prior to and during hatch. Like all waterfowl eggs, call duck eggs should be turned on their side. We are convinced that low hatch rates with call duck eggs is frequently the result of the eggs not being turned on their side. Unfortunately, most automatic egg turners tilt eggs back and forth vertically. Depending on your model of incubator, you may have to shut off or remove the automatic egg turner in your incubator and then turn your call duck eggs by hand to incubate them successfully.

Although we occasionally open the incubator to candle the eggs or adjust the humidity, which will temporarily decrease the temperature inside the incubator, we do not intentionally cool our call duck eggs during incubation. Nor do we mist the eggs. Be aware that call ducklings can take longer to hatch after initial pip than chicks. In fact, we have found that call ducklings will often pip then rest for up to 24 to 36 hours before continuing to hatch.

At what age do hens begin to lay eggs? When does the laying season begin?

Most domestic breeds of chicken will begin to lay eggs at about six months of age. The young hen's first eggs will be smaller in size, but will increase to regular size within a few weeks. The hen will lay eggs throughout most of her life. However, a hen's peak egg production years are between 1 and 2 years of age. Egg production will slowly decline after about two years of age.

In our area of the country (Southeast Missouri), the laying season for bantam cochins begins in mid-February. In 2010, our call duck hens were laying by March 1st. Mandarin hens, on the other hand, do not begin laying until later in March or early April. Most breeds of pheasant, including golden pheasants, do not begin laying until late March. Keep in mind, however, that circumstances such us environment and bird health can influence when in the season a hen begins to lay eggs.

How do I maximize my flock's egg production?

Once mature, a hen will lay most of their life. However, you can expect their egg production to begin declining after about two years of age. If your birds are primarily kept for egg production, it is cost effective to keep them during their peak egg production years and then replace them with younger, more productive birds.

If your goal is a high production egg laying flock, then it makes sense to rotate out older birds, particularly those that have not been productive layers as you don't want them breeding back into your flock. With our flock, we keep hens for two to three years. We raise new chicks each spring and rotate out older birds as needed. I only keep hens longer than that if I need to keep them for breeding purposes. If you don't rotate birds out occasionally, then your flock will have declining egg production each year and yet you are feeding them the same amount. It doesnt make sense to do that if you want as many eggs as possible out of your birds. Why spend the money feeding a flock of aging birds that lay fewer and fewer eggs each year, when you can maintain a younger flock for the same amount of money? Let the hen's earn their keep!

Also, if you want higher egg production, you should introduce a new line into your flock every few years (i.e. outcrossing). If you don't, you will eventually see egg production and fertility decline as related birds continue to breed to related birds. It takes several generations for this negative result to happen, but it will eventually. If you are breeding for typiness and show quality, you would not want to outcross but focus on line breeding. Outcrossing should improve flock healthy, egg production, fertility.