Bantams crack me up!

[ImaChickMagnet]

Hello all! This is my first post and I admit that I have been a lurker for the past 5 months or so. We raise our chickens for brown eggs and meat and although we think the fancy breeds are beautiful, hubby and I decided they weren't really for us.

Yesterday, I went to pick up a hutch (we are getting rabbits next, lol) at my husbands cousin's house and couldn't help but notice how hilarious the bantams are. Their crows are even higher pitched! They were walking around (she has 3 roosters and 1 hen) like they ran the place. And let me say that they were walking among much bigger normal sized hens and roosters.

Long story short, I want some bantams. I miss the crowing around here anyway (we had 2 awesome barred rock roosters but something got both of them in the same day a few weeks ago) and I think they would be a joy to have around.

Anyone going to try and convince me NOT to get any? LOL

 

[debilorrah]

Are you kidding??? My funniest bird is a little teeny tiny wee little turken. Probably weighs all of 8 ounces if that. And she lays the smallest white eggs (they have BIG yolks for little egg). She is a juvenile delinquent and always keeps up laughin.

 

[snowydiamonds]

What?!? You are crazy to NOT get any! When I can only have one chicken flock when I'm really old (and I say this constantly) it will be banties! More for your money in many ways except one...
added:
Yeah, me too, WELCOME

 

[debilorrah]

I AM SO SORRY!! I forgot to

 

[JennsPeeps]

I've got 3 standards and a banty, Tribble, who is teensy. I'm not sure if she's a runt (she's got a twisted beak) or if she's normal sized. She weighs less than a pound.

Tribble is f.e.i.s.t.y!! She's got lots of attitude. The big girls know to stay out of her way when she's in a mood. When she loses the big girls in our small urban back yard (duh), she lets out the loudest warning cluck! Once a car drove down the alley with its bass thumping. She got all upset and starting to buk buk bukGAWK really loudly. It cracked me up to hear her tell off the guy driving the obnoxious car.

My experience with banties has been great, and I fully recommend them!

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Another good thing about bantams is that the hens tend to go broody more than many other standard-sized laying breeds. I've been using my broody banties to incubate standard-sized eggs, I can stuff at least 6 big eggs under one tiny hen. It's really funny when the chicks grow bigger than their foster moms but still want to try to huddle under their moms' wings.

Has anyone done a cost-effectiveness study on bantams? As far as amount of feed to quantity of eggs? Is it more economical to feed 3 laying banties or 1 heavy-breed layer?

Also, is it worth the effort to process bantams for meat? Are they more difficult to clean with their small frames? Are they tasty like little game hens or tough & stringy?

Pound for pound, I know that bantams are a good bargain in terms of pure entertainment value!

 

[ImaChickMagnet]

Thanks for the welcome!

OMGosh Debirayomnd, how do get a teeny turken? Hubby's cousin has some turkens as well (God bless their little naked necks) but they are normal size. What would you cross breed that with to get it so small?

How many different types of bantams are there? And I mean are there different sizes of small? lol

 

[Guitartists]

If you ever get up by Michigan I have a blue d'Uccle roo you can have! LOL I wanted to keep him, but my d'Uccle hen Roxi can't stand him and keeps picking fights with him

and yes, there is some degree of size variance in the bantam world.... Seramas are the smallest, the best of them being the size of a pop can..... and Silkies are usually on the larger end, not being a true bantam here in the US, and you have all the ones in between...... my OEGB hen Audrey is my smallest chook, followed by my d'Uccle Roxie... then the Cochin hens, then the roos..... Sebright, Cochin and d'Uccle..... my Silkies and my Showgirl are the largest of my bantams.

Oh and...