A new Serama-sized game bantam

[troyer]

I’m trying to reduce the size of my bantam Buckeyes, and some of them don’t make sense. They look small and feel small but are actually heavy and vice versa. So I just chose the cockerel that mysteriously is both fairly light and muscular at the same time. He must just be really compact, he doesn’t look small, and he doesn’t feel small, but he has the right size so I can’t complain. Bringing down their weight is extremely difficult because the breed is fairly heavily muscled.

The quickest way to get to your goal is to hatch a couple hundred every year and select accordingly. I did that with the breed I have and after several years I ended up getting some that were too small, so now I have to breed them back up again.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

The trouble with bantam pictures is that you cannot tell how large they are. In person, you can't even measure their height because their posture changes from one minute to the next. The best wat to track progress is to track weights. The breed description usually gives size in ounces so you have something to go by.

I have not weighed the cockerels because they are young and still growing. The hens are mature, 1.5-2.5 years old between the three of them. The blue hen in the first pic on the far right with the black zip tie leg band is 14oz. The hen in the middle with the red band is around 16-18oz (I’ll get some variant between free ranging and having been cooped for a while). The third hen in the second pic on the roost bar I do not recall, but I think she is also in the 16-18oz range.

 

[Amer]

The quickest way to get to your goal is to hatch a couple hundred every year and select accordingly. I did that with the breed I have and after several years I ended up getting some that were too small, so now I have to breed them back up again.

Your breed is what? Cubalaya?
I don’t have all that much space because unfortunately my mom and brother also have chickens and we have one coop (and some growout pens.) My Buckeyes are finally getting where I want, but I’m graduating soon, so I’ll do one last hatch and then sell them all off, and hopefully somebody will take them up. I’m too in love with d’Anvers to dedicate any space to the Buckeyes in the future. I think Buckeyes are a great breed, but the d’Anvers are the only thing I really want. (Chickenswise, anyway.)

 

[troyer]

Your breed is what? Cubalaya?
I don’t have all that much space because unfortunately my mom and brother also have chickens and we have one coop (and some growout pens.) My Buckeyes are finally getting where I want, but I’m graduating soon, so I’ll do one last hatch and then sell them all off, and hopefully somebody will take them up. I’m too in love with d’Anvers to dedicate any space to the Buckeyes in the future. I think Buckeyes are a great breed, but the d’Anvers are the only thing I really want. (Chickenswise, anyway.)

Yes.

 

[miss heny]

I want some to cuddle badly. Living through your posts about your game birds, will forever be my favorite class of breeds. One day maybe I'll be able to get some of the more gamier types

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I want some to cuddle badly. Living through your posts about your game birds, will forever be my favorite class of breeds. One day maybe I'll be able to get some of the more gamier types

Funny you should say that, because I have an update.

The stag with the bigger comb has a good chance of being fertile.

The 14 oz hen has been setting for a few days. Of 16 eggs, 7 were definitely developing and 2 were questionable but I left them. I’ll let her hatch the brood and see what happens.

@miss heny These little teacup Crackers ought to be gamey enough you can’t keep two mature roosters together. But in a small backyard flock, which is what I’m imagining this breed for, that shouldn’t be a problem.

That little hen bit me more viscously tonight than any other hen of mine ever has. She’s grab a beak full of skin and shake it hard like a dog.

 

[miss heny]

Funny you should say that, because I have an update.


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The 14 oz hen has been setting for a few days. Of 16 eggs, 7 were definitely developing and 2 were questionable but I left them. I’ll let her hatch the brood and see what happens.

@miss heny These little teacup Crackers ought to be gamey enough you can’t keep two mature roosters together. But in a small backyard flock, which is what I’m imagining this breed for, that shouldn’t be a problem.

That little hen bit me more viscously tonight than any other hen of mine ever has. She’s grab a beak full of skin and shake it hard like a dog.

I love a good broody that won't take crap. I would have to build proper pens for the more gamier type birds, so one day maybe.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

We have teacup chicks. Looks like most or all 10 hatched, but I didn’t keep her lifted for long. I’ll take a better look tomorrow.

 

[miss heny]

Aaaa I want

 

[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.