Do Banty's mature later?

[Audio51]

I have a few pullets that all hatched out around April or May. They were from eggs given to me by a friend and hatched in an incubator. She has a few banties and just collected some misc eggs for me. One of the eggs that hatched is a banty and had been much smaller (as expected) than the other pullets all along. I have been noticing the others are all starting to get red combs and faces and their wattles are dropping, but the banty does not show any red at all. She is black with feathered legs (Cochin?) and her comb and face are quite black and the comb and wattles are very small. Do they mature later than the larger breeds? Will the color changes on these areas or might they stay black and just get bigger?

 

[BorneHomestead]

Is it possible for you to post a picture of said chicken in questions along with her hatchmates?

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Ornamental breeds (most feathered shanked birds) usually take longer to start laying than say, Leghorns or RIR. I have Silkies and they typically lay somewhere around 8 months old. One waited over a year before she began.
Each girl is different and they won't lay until they're ready

 

[Audio51]

It's getting dark out here now and the girls are settled in for the night. I will get a picture tomrrow and post it..

 

[Audio51]

Ornamental breeds (most feathered shanked birds) usually take longer to start laying than say, Leghorns or RIR. I have Silkies and they typically lay somewhere around 8 months old. One waited over a year before she began.
Each girl is different and they won't lay until they're ready

My others are Black Copper Marans, a Buff Orphington and an Americauna. I have 2 mature hens in with them that have been laying since last winter. I haven't had banties in over 20 years (Silver Seabrights). They were smooth legged though.

 

[Audio51]

OK...so here are the girls:

This one is the Banty in question. She is the same age as the BC Maran she is standing next to in the 2nd picture.





This one a a head shot of one of the BC Marans the same age as the banty



This Amerucauna is the same age as her too



Another BC Maran about the same age





This one is the oldest of the BC Maran, but she had some unknown illness/injury at about 3 months where she could not walk or stand. I was able to nurse her back to health over about a 1 month period and she has pretty much fully recovered now at about 6 months, except her gait is a little off. I'm not surprised she is not looking closer to laying because of that trauma.



This is just a general shot of the flock. The Blue Wyandotte in front is last years bird and fully mature/laying.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Audio51, the Force is strong in your bantam.

She will begin to lay in her own good time but she may never have a red comb or face because the color black is a dominant color and it seems to be a very strong presences in her DNA. Notice that even her beak is black.

 

[Audio51]

Thank you, Jedi Master! I had considered that the black might remain since it is so dark still, but didn't know if that was possible. I don't think I have ever seen a hen with black comb/face. Do you think her wattles will be read? And will this affect egg color?

 

[Janet Pesaturo]

Black face aside, it has been my experience that bantam cochins are particularly slow to develop. I keep a mixed flock of bantams and standards, and standards almost always mature more quickly and lay sooner. For bantams, I keep EE's, brahmas, and cochins. The cochins rank dead last in terms of rate of development.

 

[Audio51]

Black face aside, it has been my experience that bantam cochins are particularly slow to develop. I keep a mixed flock of bantams and standards, and standards almost always mature more quickly and lay sooner. For bantams, I keep EE's, brahmas, and cochins. The cochins rank dead last in terms of rate of development.

Well...that answers my question, Janet! I suspected as much. I'm sure once she starts she will lay pretty small eggs anyway, so her not laying yet is not big dent in my egg supply. I also suspect she will be a great brooder in the future when I need to replace layers. She is a very nice little hen and seems to get along with everyone.