- Jul 5, 2016
- 7
- 16
- 77
Hello everyone. This post will be ongoing until I tell my entire life story revolving bantams. I will post as often as possible and I truly hope that at least someone gets some enjoyment and happiness from it. I'm 60 years old now and everything to follow is true and very dear to my heart so come along with me on my journey through time.
I suppose I should give a little background on my father for a better understanding of how my obsession started.
My dad was the only boy born to my grandparents. He had three sisters which were not expected to work the farm to the extent as Dad was. My grandfather was a hard man by today's standards. He expected everything on the farm to contribute in some way. Horses were for plowing the fields, the cow was for milk and butter, the hogs were for butcher and the chickens were for eggs and meat. He didn't feed any animal if it didn't contribute in some way. If a hen didn't lay eggs she became dumplings. That's just the way farm life was in those days.
I don't remember where he got them but around the age of 10 or so Dad came up with three or four little bantams. He built a nice little cage for them and took care of them. This is when he discovered his love for the little bantams. Naturally they weren't the egg producers their larger cousins were and they really didn't serve a purpose on the farm.
After school one afternoon Dad came home to find the feet, feathers and heads of his pets on a pile of brush behind the barn. When he got to the house he discovered chicken was the main course for the evening meal.
There were never any more bantams on the farm after that. At the age of 18 my father was called up in the draft for WW2. He continued to live chickens and even sent pictures home of him holding game roosters while in the Philippines and New Guinea.
To be continued......
I suppose I should give a little background on my father for a better understanding of how my obsession started.
My dad was the only boy born to my grandparents. He had three sisters which were not expected to work the farm to the extent as Dad was. My grandfather was a hard man by today's standards. He expected everything on the farm to contribute in some way. Horses were for plowing the fields, the cow was for milk and butter, the hogs were for butcher and the chickens were for eggs and meat. He didn't feed any animal if it didn't contribute in some way. If a hen didn't lay eggs she became dumplings. That's just the way farm life was in those days.
I don't remember where he got them but around the age of 10 or so Dad came up with three or four little bantams. He built a nice little cage for them and took care of them. This is when he discovered his love for the little bantams. Naturally they weren't the egg producers their larger cousins were and they really didn't serve a purpose on the farm.
After school one afternoon Dad came home to find the feet, feathers and heads of his pets on a pile of brush behind the barn. When he got to the house he discovered chicken was the main course for the evening meal.
There were never any more bantams on the farm after that. At the age of 18 my father was called up in the draft for WW2. He continued to live chickens and even sent pictures home of him holding game roosters while in the Philippines and New Guinea.
To be continued......
