Bantam chicken egg production?

[sheknitsandcrochets]

Hi! We're raising a few bantam chicks, and I was wondering what you guys thought about their egg production? Do you find they lay as many eggs as full sized egg layer breeds? How much smaller are bantam eggs than an average chicken egg? Are they any bigger than quail eggs? Do they taste much different from an average chicken eggs?

Thanks for your time,

 

[zestokasis]

I think that this is an excellent post and I really hope that it takes off. I've researched bantam egg information and there really isn't a whole lot of good stuff available with regards to size and production. Having raised bantams in the past I do know that 1.The eggs taste exactly like regular full sized chicken eggs. And 2.Some breeds do lay better than others. They are bigger than quail eggs but definitely smaller than a full sized chicken egg. I typically eat 2 full sized chicken eggs per day, but when I'm eating bantam eggs I have three.

My personal breed information: Easter Egger bantams (EEB) were pretty good layers, usually 3-4 eggs a week, as well as my Mille fleur d'uccles, also 3-4 eggs a week. Typical bantam sized eggs. But both breeds did slow down a good bit during the winter months.

I'm currently raising 3 different bantam breeds.
1. Buff Brahma's
2. Rhode Island Reds
3. Barred Rocks
My hope is that by this time next year I will be able to have and share some good reliable egg stats for those breeds.

I hope others with different breeds share their bantam egg stats as well. My goal is to find a good egg laying bantam that isn't broody crazy. I understand that broodiness is a characteristic in bantams, but not all bantams broody the same. lol

 

[SilverBirds]

Depends on your breed of bantam. Bantams like to go broody a LOT which can reduce their egg production, but they still lay a fair amount. I'd say around the 100-150 annually for bantams in general .My seramas eggs (which are the smallest breed of chicken) are slightly larger then that if a quail, but the larger bantam eggs can be about half the size of a standard egg. 2-3 bantam eggs equal a standard size egg. And no, they do not taste different.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

They're cute too and if you have extra males, they grow out nicely. My current male is almost too big to hold easily when I'm moving him.

 

[chiknGeek]

For comparison, here is a bantam egg next to a regular egg from my welsumer.

 

[WIchickMama]

Awesome post, I am watching as I am looking to add bantams too

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Are they typical bantam sized eggs? And how many per week would you say that they lay?

Yeah, maybe a smidge larger than typical bantam? They're pretty round too.

When a 6 are laying, I get between 3 and 6 a day, usually 4-5. So 4 or 5 days a week per bird usually? It really is a lot of eggs for that group. If you miss a day or two, it's easy to get over run

 

[chiknGeek]

I have 2 easter egger bantams, 2 Japanese bantams, 2 silkie bantams, and a cochin bantam. Between the 7, I get 4 to 5 eggs most days.

 

[zestokasis]

Update: All 3 breeds of my bantams are laying pretty regularly now and this is what the egg sizes looks like so far. I added a standard sized chicken egg in the one picture to give a better idea of the bantam egg sizes.
From left to right: Buff Brahma, Barred Rock, Rhode Island Red. I think it's pretty evident that the Buff Brahma egg is surprisingly a good bit larger than the other two. The Barred rock eggs consistently come in second but they are only slightly bigger than the Rhode Island Red eggs. But if chicken size has anything to do with it, I expect that as the hens age a little, the Barred Rock eggs will get noticeably bigger as the Rhode Island Red bantam hens are smaller than the Barred Rock bantam hens.

So far though out of these three breeds it's looking like the Buff Brahma bantam is the way to go when it comes to egg size. I really was a little shocked to see the difference in their eggs sizes compared to the other two breeds. As most chicken farmers know eggs from new laying hens tend to get a little bigger after a few months of them laying, so it will be interesting to see what the average final size of these eggs will be. I'll update when I find out.

 

[AngBantamLuv]

Funny enough, my D'uccles are great winter layers. They did just take a break, but they are already back to almost daily eggs (sometimes days in a row, sometimes every other day).