A new Serama-sized game bantam

[Florida Bullfrog]

This thread will be an offshoot of my American Game Bantam thread. As I line breed my American Game Bantams, I’m getting more and more birds that are coming out Dutch and Serama-sized but without the munchkin traits of a Serama or the short legs of a Dutch. They are retaining their athletic builds, in other words. Which means overall they’re chickens of smaller build to meet the same weights of Seramas and Dutch bantams where a lot of the weight savings on those breeds comes from short legs.

I see this line evolving two ways. The first way will end up with mature hens in the 12-14 oz range and both sexes retaining athletic builds. The second branch will be as small as I can make them while retaining health and fertility. As I documented in the AGB thread, I recently lost a 4oz micro pullet to a hawk when I ironically pulled her off of free range for her protection and the hawk caught her through the chicken wire.

This evening I separated out two choice individuals that should start breeding this fall. The stag is 17 oz. and the pullet is 11oz.

The stag is so far the smallest rooster I have produced. I have another one that may be micro but he still has some growing to do before I know for sure.

The original AGB thread is linked here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/recreating-the-american-game-bantam.1349595/

The AGB thread chronicles the genetics I’m using to make these. There is no Serama or Dutch blood in these. Only my Florida Cracker gamefowl crossed to OEGB.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I’m proud of these birds. They’re a bit larger than a Serama but are definitely in Dutch class size-wise, but looking like miniature gamefowl.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Check this out. I was inventorying free range hens tonight. This one was roosting within reach:

She’s fully grown, having mothered several broods already. She is 14 oz.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

These are two OEGB hens used in creation of the American game bantam line, both paired to Tyrant the Cracker brood cock in this top photo. Since then no new blood has been added, everything has been line bred to the F1s. This micro line comes from breeding the F2s to their F1 uncle. The F1 uncle is consistently throwing these small, long legged, birds across multiple hens, including a small frame Cracker hen I put him to.

I did have some longer legged OEGB grey hens that came off of a farm near me and a self-blue rooster I obtained as a feral chick from another part of the state that I considered an OEGB, but may have actually been an AGB. Their genetics never made it into the line.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

First group of bitties off the teacups are hatching tonight.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I am not saying that, I am saying that Dutch don't have really short legs.
Do you know the breed of the second picture?

Yes that’s one of my hens. To my eyes, a Dutch bantam bred to the show standards has much shorter legs than these birds that’s I’m developing. My birds retain an athletic body, or at least that’s the goal when I’m done with them.

More recent pics:

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

They’ve outsized my original goal, where the pullets that are now laying weigh 18 oz each and the cockerel is 24oz. That puts them all within the ranges of OEGBs and Dutch bantams. However, I still consider it an achievement that they’re in that size range but with long, atheltic legs, where those other two breeds save weight by chopping the legs short.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Gonna make another go at this project. Micro pullet is now micro hen:

Here is the 14 oz hen, pulled off of free range tonight:

I have put both of these hens in a coop tonight with this very young stag:

This stag is the son of General Lee and Suvivorlady, my tiny pure Cracker that raised herself as a fuzzy chick free range during the height of winter. That means this fellow is 3/4 Cracker 1/4 OEGB. I believe he will be small in adulthood. He’s probably 6 months old at least. His maturation has been retarded by being cooped with General Lee his entire life.

He has a smaller full brother I will also coop with a micro hen. I meant to do it tonight but remembered after dark that I forgot to set the roost up.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I ended up with 8 chicks. They are vibrant and vigorous acting. I think it helps that fresh blood is coming in from the rooster side. Up to this point they have all been heavily line bred from the AGB line, which started as half-Cracker and half-OEGB and then line bred down to F3 and F4. This teacup cockerel that fathered the chicks is from a F1 AGB and a new Cracker hen and therefore isn’t closely related to the teacup hen.

The second pair is actually the better looking pair, but its hard to get good pictures of them. They’re very flighty when I’m close. My plan is to give the pullets of each pair to the other rooster. That should let me expand each flock to several hens while keeping their genetics fresh. I believe that by late fall I’l have a viable flock in each coop.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Yes that’s one of my hens. To my eyes, a Dutch bantam bred to the show standards has much shorter legs than these birds that’s I’m developing. My birds retain an athletic body, or at least that’s the goal when I’m done with them.

More recent pics:
View attachment 2955557View attachment 2955558View attachment 2955559


View attachment 2955560View attachment 2955561

Hatchery Dutch often have legs of a normal length due to not being bred strictly to standard.
Comparison photos of your micro game bantams and your OEGBs would be interesting to see.