I have several chicks, all around 16 weeks old. Most hatched from the same incubator. Some are banties, some are standard. Will the bantams sexually mature and start to lay at the same time as the standard breeds? Also, 1 of my banams is TINY! She is healthy as can be but the size of an 8 week old standard chick. Still fits in my palm. What could have stunted her growth, or do bantams just stay small along time?
My daughter has 3 banties hatched the same time. One is tiny, almost half size of the others and healthy too. I guess it just depends on genetics of the individual bird. i think they mature the same too, although don't quote me
I've found that they mature at about the same rate as the standard breeds. All the way from chick to laying eggs. Size wise they are obviously different, but they still feather out at the same rate as standard chicks. Hope this helps!
I found that my bantams mature a week or two faster than my standard sized birds, but that is just the results i hav got from my birds.
I had one start to lay at 4 months old, and was still waiting on my 5 month old Standard games to start. One started at 6 months, the other at 8 months. Prissy, a Bantam, started at 6 months. The "baby" that lays never did develop a "grown-up" voice. She's a weirdo though, fights with the rooster, but is sweet to all the other girls. Shares a nest and lays with her momma, makes rooster noises over birds in the sky, flies all over the place for the fun of it, grazes alone and won't come back with the rest of them. So it makes sense she had to be the odd-ball and start laying way early.
