Bantamising breeds

[eksterhuis]

Does anyone have a clue how one would go about bantamising a breed? Would be really interested in finding out how this is done... Just there are a few breeds that I would love a mini version of and was thinking of a long term project! There are limited breeds in New Zealand and I have no heard of bantamised Faverolles and thing a lap sized Faverolles sounds like the best of everything a chicken could be!

Thanks!

 

[EweSheep]

Do you want to make bantam Faverolles? Or create a LF Faverolle from bantam Faverolles?

I think the closest thing you can cross is the Orpington bantam if you want to make Faverolle bantams out of Faverolle LF.

What color of Orpington bantams and Orpington LF do you have on hand in NZ? Or can get them from Austrailia?

 

[eksterhuis]

I'm not sure what LF stands for sorry!

I wouldn't mind having a go at making them. There is only one breeder than I can find in New Zealand of bantam Orpingtons and they are on the other island, and they are black and white.

There is no way of importing eggs into New Zealand as it is a closed poultry market... No eggs or chooks are allowed in, unless you have literally millions of dollars!!! People are trying to recreate breeds here out of stock avalible and just wondering how I would go about that.

I have heard of breeding from your smallest eggs for several generations to create bantam versions, would that work?

It's all a bit tricky in NZ!

Do you want to make bantam Faverolles? Or create a LF Faverolle from bantam Faverolles?

I think the closest thing you can cross is the Orpington bantam if you want to make Faverolle bantams out of Faverolle LF.

What color of Orpington bantams and Orpington LF do you have on hand in NZ? Or can get them from Austrailia?

 

[extraordinaryfowl]

To bantamize a breed, you can go about it two different ways:

(1), and if you want pure bantams with no other breed's blood introduce, essentially you would hatch as many large fowl as you can of the breed you want to bantamize (LF, large fowl) and select the smallest. People have done this for some breeds, like one making of Dominique bantams was created this way (sometimes several different people make bantams of the same breed several different ways over a period of time).
Note: This way takes very much time, but works, and keeps the breed pure. But again, it might take 5-6 generations or more before you get something significantly smaller

(2), is to pick a breed already in bantam form that you can get as close to the breed you want to bantamize as possible. For example, if I wanted to bantamize an Australorp, since they are so similar to Orpingtons, I would use an Orpington bantam. If I wanted to bantamize a Spitzhauben, I would use a Polish bantam.
You make the initial cross with your LF Faverolle on the bantam, then select the offspring the looks closest to your LF breed (if breeding a your Faverolle hen on the bantam, select a rooster, if using a Faverolle rooster on the bantam, select one or a few hens) and breed these back to the pure original standards (In your case, Faverolles). You then take those offspring and breed them back again, selecting the small ones that are starting to conform more and more with the Faverolle look you are going for. The more you do this the better, to rid them of as much of the foreign blood as possible. I would do it until you get 3-4 generations in a row where all the small birds you get look pretty much like faverolles, then you can breed them together.

Hope this helps

 

[eksterhuis]

Thanks! Looks like it is going to be a rather long term project! I have been set back a few months as my Faverolles rooster who was 4 months old was taken by a hawk during the week... Luckily I have 14 2 week old Fav chicks!

I will concider which route I will take!

To bantamize a breed, you can go about it two different ways:

(1), and if you want pure bantams with no other breed's blood introduce, essentially you would hatch as many large fowl as you can of the breed you want to bantamize (LF, large fowl) and select the smallest. People have done this for some breeds, like one making of Dominique bantams was created this way (sometimes several different people make bantams of the same breed several different ways over a period of time).
Note: This way takes very much time, but works, and keeps the breed pure. But again, it might take 5-6 generations or more before you get something significantly smaller

(2), is to pick a breed already in bantam form that you can get as close to the breed you want to bantamize as possible. For example, if I wanted to bantamize an Australorp, since they are so similar to Orpingtons, I would use an Orpington bantam. If I wanted to bantamize a Spitzhauben, I would use a Polish bantam.
You make the initial cross with your LF Faverolle on the bantam, then select the offspring the looks closest to your LF breed (if breeding a your Faverolle hen on the bantam, select a rooster, if using a Faverolle rooster on the bantam, select one or a few hens) and breed these back to the pure original standards (In your case, Faverolles). You then take those offspring and breed them back again, selecting the small ones that are starting to conform more and more with the Faverolle look you are going for. The more you do this the better, to rid them of as much of the foreign blood as possible. I would do it until you get 3-4 generations in a row where all the small birds you get look pretty much like faverolles, then you can breed them together.

Hope this helps

 

[extraordinaryfowl]

Glad I could help! Those are the only two ways I know of, don't think there could be others. But yes, it takes a lot of time, work and selection as any breeding project does. Good luck and have fun!