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Old English Game Bantam

The Old English Game bantam is a delightful breed of chicken. It is a small, pugnacious, and...
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General Information

Breed Purpose
Ornamental
Comb
Single
Broodiness
Frequent
Climate Tolerance
All Climates
Egg Productivity
Medium
Egg Size
Small
Egg Color
White
Breed Temperament
Friendly, Easily handled, Calm, Bears confinement well, Docile
Breed Size
Bantam
APA/ABA Class
Single Comb Clean Leg
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The Old English Game bantam is a delightful breed of chicken. It is a small, pugnacious, and charming little chicken that embodies the idea of pride and “chickenhood.” Their larger counterparts are the direct descendants of the jungle fowl, but the bantams are the end result of careful selective breeding of various backyard bantams.

The first variety accepted to the American Standard of Perfection was Black Breasted Red (BBR), gaining recognition in 1925. Since their acceptance, they have become the most popular breed of exhibition chicken, easily reaching class sizes of over 300 birds in medium sized shows. Males are required to be dubbed in order to be shown, but unlike the Modern Game bantam part of the comb should be left, leaving a rounded nub. Old English have two distinct types, “American” and “English,” with the American type having a fanned tail and the English type having a “whip” tail. This breed is known for living a long and fruitful life; it is not uncommon for hens to reach 15 years of age.

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Old English Game Bantam eggs hatching

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Old English Game rooster

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Old English Game hen
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Reactions: Yard Farmer, Henny Penney, bantamsrmyfav and 8 others

Latest reviews

Yard Farmer
My favorite breed.
Pros: They're so pretty, and unique.
Cons: Since they are a type of fighting breed, the males can be quite aggressive towards each other.
My absolute favorite breed of all time.
I love their personalities, and colors. I like to mix up the different colors and see what the off spring look like.

But I also do a lot more serious breeding with my bb reds. Currently looking to make my own line of show quality bb red's.
Purchase Price
$50
Bigtom Turkey
Great little birds
Pros: Sweet, smart, great fliers, lots of attitude.
Cons: Very small.
Love my OEGBs. Very wild like,
Purchase Price
50$
Henny Penney
Pros: Easy to care for, hardy, friendly, can be tamed, good in all weather, fun for children and elderly.
Cons: For some, small eggs and their love of flying are cons
I raised Old English Game Bantams 45+ yrs, after a 6 yr hiatus have started again with a rescued pair. For everything I read people write about them I can think of exceptions because their personalities vary, and they DO have personalities! Constant characteristics are: Hens are good moms, roosters are good with their hens, never had an aggressive rooster towards people or hens.

Some roosters get along, some don't.

The pair we have now are VERY talkative! I find most of them are talktive but some less so. The roosters crow is not as loud or deep as larger breeds.

Only a few chickens over the yrs had serious health problems other than occasional mites.

Their love of flying can be an asset to get away from danger.

If you don't mind small eggs (for most uses the ratio of 2=1 works fine), I find them to be good layers, our current hen lays an egg every other day, occasionally every day, once 2 in one day!

They are an attractive, entertaining, easy breed to raise. I miss the beautiful red/gray/gold/black roosters I had, but the dusty gray "Self-blue" color rooster I have now is a handsome guy.

First picture: our current pair, Hazel and Mr. Sage. Second picture: Little Red Hen, whose eggs were too big to pass but she was very tame, a therapy chicken at times, third picture: Studdly, our last rooster, a knight in shining armor. Fourth picture: showing all the colors hens can be and Studdly's father.
Purchase Price
I don't remember what I paid for the first ones
Purchase Date
first ones 1976

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Last edited:
Henny Penney
Henny Penney
PS The exception to my comments.....the little rescue rooster we got became aggressive toward me after 3 months, he went to live elsewhere and was replaced by a friendlier rooster.
Mo_fawaazzz
Mo_fawaazzz
are your hens loud? do they sing the egg song?
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Comments

diannasunshine
I am new to chickens in general, and I have large fowel as well, but I am so willing to eat tiny eggs forever b/c they are just the sweetest birds ever!
 
NewBanty
It seems the neighborhood chickens that have taken up residence in our yard during the day & trees at night (2 roosters & 1 hen) are Old English. The hen has hatched eggs twice in our yard - the first time we snatched the babies & got 2 beautiful roosters & 2 hens. The second time she hatched 1 hen & 1 rooster that we left with her. They are very entertaining & we love them. Yes they love the sound of their voices, but I find that if I haven't heard them for awhile I start wondering where they are & we've learned to sleep through the 3 am, 4 am & 5 am conversations the roosters have :)
 
Gercarson
The Old English Game Bantam is the epitome of what a "banty" should be and look like. They come in every feather color pattern known to chickens. They are a beautiful little chicken and can be as tame or as wild as they are raised - no matter, they WILL be fiesty and colorful in their habits and activities. I love these little chickens and have had them most of my long life.
 
KathyG
I loved your pictures and story of Chipmonk. I have a few of these delightful birds. One is presently strutting about with 20 (truly) chicks about a week old. They are not all hers, but she has, unusually for a hen, taken on some abandoned babies. They are still small, but I must get a picture of her trying to cover them with her wings when they are older. One of these little girls found her way into my house and eventually hatched her clutch on top of a tall bookcase. They can become very tame and friendly.
 
Lorien
I could have written this post (by alxw). I totally agree. My neighbor got rid of his chickens but couldn't catch this one. She joined my flock. Mean, loud and flighty. As soon as I find a better mother chicken she is gonna be soup! Hasn't happened yet.
 
alxw
She was almost soup when peanut (mean hen) killed my favorite buff bless her poor heart. I had no idea it was peanut the whole time because none of their faces were beat up. I always wonder if the aggression was passed on to peanut from her mom to be so aggressive? Or is it just her personality because I've never had another oegh.
 
Dowie
Oh my, what horrible sounding hens! Glad to read this. I think I'll stick with having silkies as moms.
 
bantiesrule
I have never had an aggressive OEGB hen (is this a bantam or what is OEGH?) unless she had chicks to protect, then watch out cause she'll take on anything she considers a threat. I have had one or maybe two roosters that went "down the road" because they were not nice and even they weren't as bad as your hen sounds. Don't discount OEGBs because of this hen, as a rule they are little sweeties and very friendly. I really love this breed.
 
alxw
OEGH- Old English Game Hen. Overall she is just aggressive even when she doesn't have chicks to protect. She is just a nasty bird I cant touch her without my fingers almost being pecked off. OEGH are a type of bantam. All my other bantams have been perfect except for her. Her bloodline may have fighting birds since OEGC were used for fighting way back in the day. Beautiful bird but ugly temperment but there is always a bad seed in every breed and I found that one seed lol.
 
KarenFoster
I had these many years ago and loved them too. Even the roosters where friendly to me and I also found the egg size acceptable . If a recipe called for large eggs , I would add say 3 instead of 2 for example. My hens seemed just broody enough and I usually had peeps in summer, yet not too many for comfort.
 

Item information

Category
Chicken Breeds
Added by
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Reviews
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Last update
Rating
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