Black Rosecomb Bantam

[McHenry1947]

Anybody have Black rosecomb bantams? Tell me something about them, temperment, are they easy to raise, egg laying and such. I think they are pretty.....

Keith

 

[Msbear]

There are some old threads with lots of info... but, I cannot seem to search back that far.

I love mine. They are excellent foragers and I don't feed mine much during the summer and fall as they are outside of the coop all day. They are the earliest risers and the first ones on the perch at night. They can be flighty as youngsters but tend to settle down as they mature. Some lines will lay more than others. My original birds lay for a month or so then brood. I added a hen from another breeder and her eggs are bigger, a tad darker and this girl lays up a storm, broods chicks, then starts laying again. She raised 3 clutches last year. They all make tremendous mothers. I have a hen from my original line that we call, "Nanny" She has never went broody but she helps the other broodies raise the chicks. Even when momma stops feeding them, she still calls the 4 month olds over for food. It is endearing to watch. They are known for this connected family unit. They stick close together and get attached to their coop mates. Whenever I take someone out to examine them, they call back and fourth incessantly until I return the bird. The roos make excellent fathers and I never have problems with fathers and sons. I did let a rosecomb hen hatch out an extra cochin egg with her eggs one time and, this was a neat experiment. My other birds would never have noticed the difference and that odd bird would have been absorbed into the flock. ...Not so with this little cockerel. By the time he was a coupe months old, he became the outcast. The other roos and cockerels eventually pushed him out and would not let him enter the coop with them.

They are elegant to watch and constantly chatter with one another. Their excellent communication makes them the first responders to danger and tends to keep them safe under bushes when the hawks are around. I lost 4-5 bantam cochins last year and 1 rosecomb peep that was just a few days old.

I show mine and think I have rather beautiful birds but, I am always reminded that I am not alone in admiring them when I coop in at a show. There is some stiff competition and these birds have breeders which have been working on them for 40+ years. .. hard to compete with that but Im learning a lot.

Im into only the fanciest of banties and these are the cats meow to me... just love them.

 

[YB192004]

Below is a link to more pics and info on them.

http://www.rosecomb.com/random/thebirds/black.html

 

[McHenry1947]

Both of you have some beautiful birds. I think I have got to have me some Black Rosecombs they are so pretty.........

Keith