Bantams vs Standard

[aart]

Get the birds you want.
Demeanor is rarely breed specific, so don't count on it.
Individual birds all have their own 'personalities', and behavior can also be affected by environment.

 

[Building Bridges]

I have bantams, so called dual purpose and mixed breeds here and have for the past ten years.
The bantams here have been excellent egg layers, easily outperforming the Marans.
Their eggs are smaller but not by much.
The important point about bantams that hasn't been mentioned is they tend to be flighty. If you keep them in a coop and covered run this may not be a problem, but note the word covered.
All the bantams here will and do go up trees at roost time. They will come down with a bit of bribery and encouragement and go into their coop, but it is extra work and essentially means you need to be there at roost time if you are not happy with them living in the trees.
Living in the trees sounds great to some but one quickly finds out that a rooster crowing at 4.30am in a tree a few yards from your bedroom window can leave you sleep deprived very quickly.
Some people write they mix bantams with other breeds and don't encounter any problems.
The bantams here will not tolerate other breeds.

Thank you for this! I think you've helped me to be able to articulate why I will not choose bantams. Flighty isn't something I would appreciate. It's going to be a learning curve for me and I don't need to make it more challenging by having to shinny up trees to get them to safety every day. I would be too worried to leave them there and annoyed at having to fiddle with them to get them locked up. There are bobcats and coyotes and even some bears where I'll be. A family member 2 miles from my future home had a bear in their back yard.

 

[Building Bridges]

Get the birds you want.
Demeanor is rarely breed specific, so don't count on it.
Individual birds all have their own 'personalities', and behavior can also be affected by environment.

Sound advice...thanks.

 

[Callender Girl]

I didn't even want to consider bantams, but ended up with two Cochin Bantams (a barred rock and a red frizzle) after having my arm twisted by their previous owner. To be honest, they are so darned adorable, I can't believe I ever didn't want them!

Their feathery feet almost look like flippers and give them the cutest gait when they run. I call them my "tiny jewels."

Gabby, the frizzle, has resumed laying already this winter, and while her little eggs won't fill your stomach, they are fine in scrambles with everyone else's. These two live in their own A-frame coop -- because everyone else here is a full-sized bird and I don't want them to have to fight for feed (the runner ducks like to invade when everyone is free-ranging and suck up everything in the feeder) But Gabby, especially, shows no fear and has been known to run off much larger aggressors. Sally's tactic is to stand and YELL at the others. So much personality!!

They were initially a bit reticent around the bigger birds, but have gotten braver. This week, they decided the coop that houses two Sapphire Gems and two Easter Eggers had a better roost than their own A-frame. So, they hopped up onto the high roost and made the bigger birds share.

Of the breeds you are considering, I've only had experience with Welsummers -- who seem to be at the bottom of the pecking order with the two I've had. Nice birds with beautiful eggs, though.

Whatever you decide, enjoy the adventure and welcome to BYC!

 

[Building Bridges]

I didn't even want to consider bantams, but ended up with two Cochin Bantams (a barred rock and a red frizzle) after having my arm twisted by their previous owner. To be honest, they are so darned adorable, I can't believe I ever didn't want them!

Their feathery feet almost look like flippers and give them the cutest gait when they run. I call them my "tiny jewels."

Gabby, the frizzle, has resumed laying already this winter, and while her little eggs won't fill your stomach, they are fine in scrambles with everyone else's. These two live in their own A-frame coop -- because everyone else here is a full-sized bird and I don't want them to have to fight for feed (the runner ducks like to invade when everyone is free-ranging and suck up everything in the feeder) But Gabby, especially, shows no fear and has been known to run off much larger aggressors. Sally's tactic is to stand and YELL at the others. So much personality!!

They were initially a bit reticent around the bigger birds, but have gotten braver. This week, they decided the coop that houses two Sapphire Gems and two Easter Eggers had a better roost than their own A-frame. So, they hopped up onto the high roost and made the bigger birds share.

Of the breeds you are considering, I've only had experience with Welsummers -- who seem to be at the bottom of the pecking order with the two I've had. Nice birds with beautiful eggs, though.

Whatever you decide, enjoy the adventure and welcome to BYC!

Awww...it's so great that you have come to see Gabby and Sally's virtues! Standing and yelling at bigger aggressors.....that's gumption!! You gotta admire that!!
Yeah I've heard that about Welsummers....I've also read that in a mixed flock they tend to stick together.....apparently they prefer the company of other Welsummers!

 

[aart]

It's going to be a learning curve for me and I don't need to make it more challenging by having to shinny up trees to get them to safety every day.

Keep them confined in a secure roofed coop and run...even if you don't get bantams.
Shad keeps his super free ranged.

 

[Building Bridges]

Keep them confined in a secure roofed coop and run...even if you don't get bantams.
Shad keeps his super free ranged.

That's my plan, aart. I also considered doing something like this to allow them some supervised time outside the run.....easy to relocate occasionally. Gets them out onto new ground without giving them full-time free access to the property. https://www.omlet.us/shop/chicken_keeping/omlet_chicken_fencing
Do you think this is a good idea or not?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have bantams, so called dual purpose and mixed breeds here and have for the past ten years.
The bantams here have been excellent egg layers, easily outperforming the Marans.
Their eggs are smaller but not by much.
The important point about bantams that hasn't been mentioned is they tend to be flighty. If you keep them in a coop and covered run this may not be a problem, but note the word covered.
All the bantams here will and do go up trees at roost time. They will come down with a bit of bribery and encouragement and go into their coop, but it is extra work and essentially means you need to be there at roost time if you are not happy with them living in the trees.
Living in the trees sounds great to some but one quickly finds out that a rooster crowing at 4.30am in a tree a few yards from your bedroom window can leave you sleep deprived very quickly.
Some people write they mix bantams with other breeds and don't encounter any problems.
The bantams here will not tolerate other breeds.

My bantams are mostly cochins, so not a lot of flying out here. I forget how flighty other breeds can be.

 

[Chicken Heel]

I have kept separate flocks of bantams and large breed chickens for several years now and I enjoy both. My affinity for bantams goes back to when my Grandpa gave me a hen with 12 chicks and a year later I had over 80. Even at six years of age, I was an early practitioner of chicken math. Some of my favorite memories are getting up before dawn and watching that first flock of bantams come off the roost from the large trees on our property. My Dad would watch with me and tell me about him having bantams when he was a boy. I'll continue to keep them as long as I have chickens as a nod to him and my Grandpa.

 

[Shadrach]

My bantams are mostly cochins, so not a lot of flying out here. I forget how flighty other breeds can be.

I have Old English Games of sorts. I think someone crossed them with a bat.