Help Picking a Bantam?

[Tylt33]

I need help picking a few bantam varieties. The main things we're looking for are:

1. Friendliness- All non-friendly birds get re-homed. We put in daily time holding, carrying, giving our birds treats, etc.
2. Poor Flyers- Our fences are about 6 feet high. We keep chickens against city regulations, although our neighbors are ok with it, we don't want to push it. And, if they fly over certain fences, they're dog chow.

I've already picked Orpingtons and Cochins, but I like some of the thinner, smaller birds- Japanese, Belgians, Dutch, and Sebrights. Which do you recommend for a poor flyer/ good personality combo? Are there any thinner, more "stream line" birds that don't fly well and have good personalities?

Thank you all!

 

[SilverPhoenix]

Most of the smaller, lighter breeds are fairly good flyers, but you could always clip their wings regularly to curb their ability to fly. I've kept a great number of bantams in my eleven years of keeping chickens, and so far my two favorite breeds have been OEGBs and seramas.

Both are very friendly, beautiful, fun, adorable breeds that I can't recommend enough! I really enjoy keeping them and I'd have even more than ten plus of each if I had the room! They're so sweet they'll fly up on my shoulders when I walk in the coop, are often curiously coming and pecking right at my feet, don't mind being handled at all, and in general are just the greatest pets.

d'Uccles are another nice bantam breed, they're pretty mellow and quite cute. Sebrights are gorgeous but in my experience (and from what I've heard this isn't uncommon) tend to be both rather wild/not tame and somewhat delicate. Oh, and Japanese are another nice breed! Mine aren't too friendly, they're a bit standoffish, but they're not exactly unfriendly either.

 

[Tylt33]

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I couldn't find Seramas at any of the small order hatcheries (Ideal, Cackle) so I crossed them off my list

I had heard and read the same thing about Sebrights, so I'll just cross them off now. Your OEGBs are nice? I had read they were pretty feisty due to their roots. I'll check them out! Thank you!!!

 

[SilverPhoenix]

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I couldn't find Seramas at any of the small order hatcheries (Ideal, Cackle) so I crossed them off my list

I had heard and read the same thing about Sebrights, so I'll just cross them off now. Your OEGBs are nice? I had read they were pretty feisty due to their roots. I'll check them out! Thank you!!!

Yeah, seramas are a bit harder to find. Breeders are fairly spread out. If you have an incubator, though, eggs aren't too hard to find! I would offer you some eggs for just the cost of shipping but neither of my adult hens are laying right now because one is broody and the other is caring for her chicks.

My OEGBs are VERY friendly and I haven't had any OEGBs in eleven years that weren't! They are feisty in the sense that they're energetic and will hold their ground against larger chickens, but when it comes to people they're absolutely wonderful! And it's not like they're bad at all with other chickens, they just make up for their small size with their energy and boldness. Even my roosters are just the sweetest. You won't regret it if you choose to get some, they're fantastic. They come in a lot of beautiful colors, too! I recommend handling them a lot as babies, but even if you didn't they'd likely still turn out pretty friendly. They're a very curious, bright, and smart breed. Funny as can be, too!

 

[Tylt33]

How are OEGB in terms of flying? That's the part that makes me really nervous.

 

[SilverPhoenix]

Unfortunately, they are good flyers--which is why I would suggest clipping the flight feathers of one wing if you want one of the more streamlined looking bantam breeds. It doesn't hurt the bird and just makes it so they can't fly so high/at all, and it wouldn't need to be done all that often.

 

[speckledhen]

I have only one bantam, a banty lavender Cochin from Ideal. She never flies and has the coolest little princess personality.

 

[silkieowner]

hi i would reccomend cochins or silkies. I have never had a problem with my silkies or cochin cross leaving the yard and our fences are only like 5ft tall. I also find my cochin cross and silkies aren't much for destroying the yard like our bigger chickens. My dad had to build a fence around the veggie garden to keep the bigger chickens out, Where my silkies and cochin cross didn't go near the veggie garden.

 

[Tylt33]

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Yeah, I guess if I'm going with any of the streamlined breeds I'm going to be clipping wings. That's good to know, thank you!

 

[Tylt33]

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My other birds all came from Ideal... and I'm guessing that's where my next order will come from as well. I had already decided on getting at least a couple Cochin bantams, I might end up with all Cochin bantams