As you can tell by my username, I am a big bantam fan! Here's the story how I fell in love with bantams:
When I first start raising chickens, I got 4 standard chickens: 1 Buff Orpington, 1 Black Australorp, 1 "Light Brahma", and 1 White Leghorn. During the time I bought those chickens, I knew little about them, and I assumed all breeds were easy to tame. A month after I got those chickens, I lost my "Light Brahma" (I actually think she was a bantam Brahma, since she was SO small), as all the other pullets piled on top of her next to the waterer, and she drowned. So, the 3 other pullets grew up. The Orpington was the only chicken that ended up becoming my pet, which disappointed me. I didn't realize that some breeds were naturally skittish. Then, I heard about bantams, and I needed some.
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My Leghorn, Stacy
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My Black Australorp, Lacy
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My Buff Orpington, Honey

I got two bantams: 1 Blue Silkie and 1 Buff Laced Polish bantam. The Polish ended up being a rooster, so I had to give him away. On the other hand, my Silkie grew up to be a pullet, but she was a spasm, aggressive to the other hens, and ALWAYS broody. I sold her to someone two years later.




My Buff Laced Polish, Rudy

My Blue Silkie, Sweety

Rudy and Sweety together

Despite that my first two bantams weren't all that great, I got another batch of 5 chicks: 3 Porcelain d'Uccles and 2 Mottled Houdans. 1 Houdan and 1 d'Uccle grew up to be rooster, so I gave them away. The other 3 chickens were wonderful and sweet. They are what got me into bantams (I count the Houdan as a bantam because she is really small for a Houdan).
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The chicks
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My Mottled Houdan, Victoria

My Porcelain d'Uccle, who is my favorite chicken, Lily

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My Porcelain d'Uccle with a crooked beak, Dannielle

Time went by, I got another batch of 3 bantams (although, two of them died of illness and the other became an aggressive rooster).

My Golden Neck d'Uccle, Summer (R.I.P. September 12th, 2013-April 10th, 2014, she died of an unknown illness)


My Black Cochin Bantam, Odysseus





My Ameraucana bantam, Ivan (R.I.P.,September 12th, 2013-January 7th, 2014 He died of an unknown illness)

Later, I got a batch of 10 bantams (5 Mille Fleur d'Uccles and 5 Gray Japanese bantams).Two chicks died from the stress of the shipment. There were 3 roosters from the last batch, and the Japanese bantams I had to add to my order to meet the minimum. I sold the two Japanese bantam hens, and I wasn't able to give away the roosters. I kept the four remaining d'Uccles (I got 3 hens, 1 rooster) for breeding.














The chicks

Now, I have 8 chickens (although I recently lost a d'Anver bantam I bought at a show and one of the d'Uccle hens from the last batch in two hawk attacks).

R.I.P., April, August 2012-February 15th, 2015



R.I.P., Sage, March 22nd, 2014-February 8th, 2015



Here are some of my best photos:

UPDATE: R.I.P. Lily March 11th, 2013-July 31st, 2015

Lily

Lily

Lily

Savannah

Lily

I love this picture--it is the shadowy image of one of the most beautiful animals on the planet--the chicken.

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