I'm thinking about buying Banty babies. Thoughts on this smaller bird?

[Chicken Frenzie]

I have four bantams, they seem to be quieter and calmer....

Here's an egg sized with a penny.. =P
We have Dutch, japaneese, and Polish. Splash Dutch hen Blue Light Brown Dutch hen Black Jap hen White Crested Black Polish hen
They're cute and small and loveable! (Their eggs are bite sized!)

 

[GardeNerd]

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I kept a variety of Large Fowl for awhile, but love my bantams so much now, I'm not sure we will be getting any LF again.

I love my cochin bantams.
Their eggs are small, 1.3oz eggs. Some lay 3/4 eggs, and some lay 5/ 6 a week, depending on the individual pullet, and only when they aren't broody.
I have 5, but I think 7 would be about right for our family of four.
My favorite variety of bantam cochin so far is the black. I like their green sheen in the sun.
They are really sweet, calm, and quiet. They love attention, handling, and don't mind the dog, cat, or kids.

 

[speckledhen]

Bantam Cochins are really sweet and funny. Here is our little princess, Shadow last winter when daddy brought her inside to warm up.

I have three mille fleur D'Uccles but they are only about 8 weeks old.

 

[alpinefarm]

Banties are my family's favorite birds...and somehow, I get more attached to them than my big birds.

I have an egg client who requests *only* my ameraucana sky blue banty eggs. Her two little boys are crazy about helping to make their own breakfasts with them.

 

[The Fairy Godmartyr]

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I have my silkies housed in the same coop with my LF chickens, and they are perfectly happy. The two roos roost up with my big birds, and the pullet sleeps in a nest box. If you are in the Bath Twsp in southern Ohio, you are really close to me. My silkies have been handling the cold around here with absolutely no problem. The only time I have done anything different for them was a week or so ago when we got a day of rain and were going to drop into the 20's overnight. My silkie hen was soaked, so I blow dried her after everyone else was roosted for the night so she wouldn't freeze.

Other than that, my chickens are all treated equally, regardless of size.

 

[dianneS]

I have some banties that are bred down versions of larger breeds, like cochin bantams and EE bantams. They are not nearly as small as a true bantam and neither are their eggs. My OEGB's are the only true bantams I have. I just love them! I've had several that were very sweet and friendly. Their eggs are tiny and I love them! They make the greatest little one bite deviled eggs for parties. The hard boiled bantam eggs look great in salads too. I've even used a bantam egg at times when I'm modifying a recipe and I need half of an egg!

I love the true bantams but they are more susceptible to preditors if you free range them. That's the only downfall.

You will also need poultry netting or something smaller to contain the chicks. They are tiny and can even slip through the holes in the chicken wire!

Oh, also bantam hens make the best moms and the hatch rate for the eggs is fantastic! Whether its under a broody or in a bator I always have 100% hatch rate with my bantam eggs.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

I have quiet alot of Bantams.

They quiet gentle ( most anyway ).

Cochins, Silkies, Brahmas, are some of the more gentler ones I've had.

I have Serama eggs in the 'bator so can't give you any feed back on them..yet.

 

[stilldeb]

I have sixteen chickens, all bantams. They are all spoiled rotten, by me of course, and very tame. I have 14 hens and 2 roosters. Yes, some of them can fly, but mine usually only fly across the yard when they see me coming with TREATS! If flying is a problem, you can clip a wing. I have a couple of Sebrights and they are so pretty I couldn't bring myself to clip their beautiful wings. Also have a Polish crested, couple of black Cochin frizzles, Silkies, Mille Fleur D'Uccles (the sweetest ever!), buff Brahmas and an EE. I have never had LF chickens so I can't tell you the difference, but I love my banties! (I was suprised how large an egg my Sebrights lay, though - I thought they lay small eggs, but these are the size of "small" grocery store eggs and the yolks are bigger.) Really, the size of the eggs has not been a big deal. (When you are cooking, one egg is 1/4 cup - so just measure in a measuring cup.)

deb g
KY

 

[theron]

We like our bantams, too. We have silkies, seramas, millie fleur d'uccles, old english game bantam, modern game, and golden sebrights.

Out of all of the bantam breeds we have, the favorite of our family would have to be the seramas. They are just so tiny and friendly and calm. I can't say enough good things about them. Right now we have 11 seramas (2 roosters, 5 hens, and 4 two week old chicks). Here are a few pics of them.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

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Oh, your take beautiful pictures!

Your Seramas are so cute! I have some in the incubator.