did my LF Brahma produce a bantam?

[bibliophile birds]

i hatched 5 chicks from my own stock on 5/29 (making them almost 3 months now). 3 of the chicks looked to be pure Buff Brahma and have developed into really lovely Brahma pullets.

the only strange thing is that one of them is really small. she's probably about 3/4 the size of her sisters and about 1/2 the size of her other hatch-mates (a Brahma/Orpington cross and an EE). she's about 8 inches tall at the shoulder. i started thinking that perhaps she was secretly part Silkie (the only bantam i have), but my Silkie roo is very dark gray and i don't think he can successfully mate the Brahma girls- he tries and just falls off. there's nothing wrong with her, she's just rather dainty. i tried putting her in the Silkie pen today and realized that she's just slightly larger than the Silkie pullets that are a few weeks younger than her.

anyway, i guess the question really is, why is she so small? is there a precedent for standard birds randomly throwing bantams? is she just small? all of my older Brahma hens are hatch-mates and they are almost exactly the same size and my Brahma roo is pretty big. i'm just kinda stumped.

 

[bibliophile birds]

anyone?

 

[mitchell3006]

She is a pretty buff brahma bantam. I can't explain how she came to be but she is pretty.

Mark

 

[bibliophile birds]

thanks Mark. it's just the strangest thing.

i think she's pretty too! and she's the sweetest thing- always wants to be held and comes to sit with me when i am in the yard. i think i'm going to name her Thumbalina.