I like the Old English Game Bantams; they just come in so many different varieties(I'm partial to the Quail variety myself) and are so lively, and if hand-raised, the hens tend to be very friendly. I had one hen that would fly up onto my shoulder and sit and just trill at me (she would scream at me to give her treats, though, literally; it sounded like she was being tortured.
The roosters can be a mixed bag temperament wise; we used to have a really nice Silver Duckwing rooster. The Black-Tailed Red I have now has major mood swings. Some days he wants to attack my feet; some days he acts like he couldn't care less. I have a Quail rooster growing with my last order of chicks, and I hope he doesn't develop the attitude my other one has. I didn't even raise the other rooster; he was practically grown when I got him, but his ankle biting tendencies didn't show until late last winter/early this spring. He was fine before that.
I also like the look of d'Uccles, but I don't have any (maybe in the future). I also like the funny look of the Modern Game Bantams with their insanely long legs (I want some of them one day, too).
I also have one Cochin Bantam hen who is very tame, but the rooster I had was a sneak attacker. At least my Old English rooster is blatant when he wants to attack my feet; it's mildly annoying because he was the rooster I got to replace the sneaky Cochin rooster.
The last chicks I ordered came from Ideal, and they seem to have the biggest choice bantam-wise; they have so many different varieties in the game bantams! I was looking at their bantam breeds and varieties on their site, and I was like
. I hope to order some d'Uccles, Modern Games, and some more Old English Games in the future from them, maybe some bantam cochins, too. Gah, the chicks I have now are only 4 weeks old, and I'm already thinking of my next batch of chicks! Of course, I can reason that since my last order was all standards with only 2 bantams, I must have more bantam chicks to keep those company when they get older.
