I've discovered something wonderful.....

[Catfishfedd]

By accident, i had an old english game banty from a retail store left over from the days when i was lost. I have 17 hens today and dont want to deal with roosters as im not a breeder. other than breeding this little guy provides everything a rooster can without damaging your girls, including beauty and entertainment. I get attacked hard every time i grab one, and i assume anything smaller than a grown man would really get it. Probably not for city people or households with young girls, but boy does it work well here.

 

[Bunnylady]

Yep, those little bantams can be a whole lot of personality in a small package!

I once had an Old English pair in the same pen with an assortment of large birds, including an EE rooster. You 'd have thought the little guy would have been completely outclassed, but it worked the other way around. He would launch an attack on the bigger bird, and by the time the EE got turned around, he was gone! I doubt he'd have fared very well in a straight-on fight, but maybe he knew that, and was too smart to chance it. I don't know that he even tried to breed the big hens, but he ruled the roost and the run.

 

[speckledhen]

I have a sweet little Cochin bantam rooster in with the older Orpington hens. He's been there since not long after they lost their 14 lb rooster. Figured he wouldn't be much stress on them, being so small compared to them. They were fine with him until he started trying to breed them, then they did everything except spit on him, lol. Now, he's accepted and he's been there two years, though two of the four hens have passed on and he's left with just the two 7 yr old hens. He is rotten to the core, thinks smaller hens are not right for him, so he won't even dance for anything other than the huge Orp gals. Xander is DA MAN now!