I've been considering eventually getting some bantams, but needed to make sure they'd lay well enough to justify keeping them (no freeloaders around here!). I came across a couple of British books on Bantams at the library (how come most of the poultry books at the library were written in England?!?), and one of them had a chart in the back of it (these aren't all the breeds that were in the chart, I just copied the ones that I was interested in that lay well):
Ancona 180-200 eggs/year, 1 oz. per egg
Araucana (EE) 150-180/yr., 1 oz. per egg
Brahma 190/yr., 1.2 oz. per egg
La Fleche 200/yr., 1.6 oz. per egg
New Hampshire 180/yr., 1.4 oz. per egg
Orpington 160-180/yr., 1.2 oz. per egg
Rhode Island 180/yr., 1.4 oz. per egg
Sussex 150-180/yr., 1.4 oz. per egg
Welsummer 180/yr., 1.6 oz. per egg
Wyandotte 100-180/yr., 1.4 oz. per egg
Polish (from a different book) just rated as excellent layers
If and when I get bantams, I'll probably get some New Hampshires, since I like the standard-sized version.
I've been asking for years here and there (and have seen other people asking, also) which bantams lay well enough to justify keeping them as laying hens, and never could get any useful answer, so I thought I'd post this here in case anyone else was interested. The book is Bantams: A Complete Pet Owner's Manual, by Helga Fritzsche, if anyone is interested. (And if anyone wants me to, I can copy more information from the chart.)
Kathleen
I don't know if the strains of these breeds that we have in this country will be the same as the British strains.
Ancona 180-200 eggs/year, 1 oz. per egg
Araucana (EE) 150-180/yr., 1 oz. per egg
Brahma 190/yr., 1.2 oz. per egg
La Fleche 200/yr., 1.6 oz. per egg
New Hampshire 180/yr., 1.4 oz. per egg
Orpington 160-180/yr., 1.2 oz. per egg
Rhode Island 180/yr., 1.4 oz. per egg
Sussex 150-180/yr., 1.4 oz. per egg
Welsummer 180/yr., 1.6 oz. per egg
Wyandotte 100-180/yr., 1.4 oz. per egg
Polish (from a different book) just rated as excellent layers
If and when I get bantams, I'll probably get some New Hampshires, since I like the standard-sized version.
I've been asking for years here and there (and have seen other people asking, also) which bantams lay well enough to justify keeping them as laying hens, and never could get any useful answer, so I thought I'd post this here in case anyone else was interested. The book is Bantams: A Complete Pet Owner's Manual, by Helga Fritzsche, if anyone is interested. (And if anyone wants me to, I can copy more information from the chart.)
Kathleen
I don't know if the strains of these breeds that we have in this country will be the same as the British strains.
