Looking for suggestions...

[kfacres]

We recently dispersed our breeding flock, and have been thinking about getting back into some birds again. Coming from a high feed intake, poor foraging, hard to hatch flock, I'd like to move towards something the opposite.

So... Bantam breeds: Great Foragers, very athletic, Great broodies, and well above average for egg laying ability...

I'm more interested in buying into good quality, pure lines, opposed to TSC and Farm King birds.

Ready. Set. Go.
and Thank you.

 

[Dead Rabbit]

Sir I have no experience with a bantam breed that has the stipulations you've listed. But there is two breeds I've contemplated owning for quite some time that would live up to your expectations I believe.

1. White faced black Spanish-cackle hatchery has a great description and video of them. And a member here called FLURREY 37 has a producing flock in TN and he sells started trios at a very good price. I can't speak for these particular birds but I've purchased from him and visited him in yrs past. He is a true chicken man. And raises quality fowl

2. Norweigan jaarhons-https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%A6rh%C3%B8ns. Prolific layers of good sized eggs for the size of bird. Self sufficient. And not very common.

Hope these suggestions help. Sorry I can't give first hand experience on either breed. All my knowledge of bantams is either ornamental, or very successful cross breeds

 

[donrae]

Consistent broodiness and above average egg production are kind of mutually exclusive

Have you considered game birds? Scrappy, will happily forage for food, predator savvy, fierce little mommas. Mine have been decent enough layers, but I always cherished them more as broodies.

 

[kfacres]

Consistent broodiness and above average egg production are kind of mutually exclusive

Have you considered game birds? Scrappy, will happily forage for food, predator savvy, fierce little mommas. Mine have been decent enough layers, but I always cherished them more as broodies.

I have, and they are atop my list as of right now. Wanted to check with the world and see if there was something I was missing-- something like the above mentioned suggestion!.

Suppose I should better elaborate on egg laying desires... I've had a few silkies over the years, kept them just to hatch eggs... 3 eggs and plop they go. Not interested in something like that again. They are a very coop friendly type bird. We had Cornish, and they laid from mid April until late August, not an egg any other time. I don't need something that will drop an egg every day all year, but I would like something that can drop 4 or 5 a week all year for the first two years of their life.

 

[Michael OShay]

You have some tough criteria you're looking for in your chickens. They are pretty rare (only a few breeders in the USA) and pretty expensive, but Icelandic chickens would probably best meet your criteria.

 

[donrae]

I don't know about foragers or athletic, but I've been pretty impressed with my bantam cochin's rate of lay. I bought them specifically to be broodies, and the 3 year old hens are laying pretty darn well when they're not broody.

 

[kfacres]

How about smaller sized large fowl breeds? Are there any more heritage lines of the white egg layers a that will go broody?

 

[Michael OShay]

How about smaller sized large fowl breeds? Are there any more heritage lines of the white egg layers a that will go broody?

Unfortunately in your case, the white egg laying heritage breeds just don't go broody very often. Game hens lay white eggs and go broody, but they are not great layers. Again, I'm thinking that Icelandics might be the only breed that would fit your criteria.

 

[kfacres]

With a name like Icelandic one would expect great winter hardiness, but how about heat? Here in the Midwest our range us from minus 20 to plus 110.

 

[Michael OShay]

With a name like Icelandic one would expect great winter hardiness, but how about heat? Here in the Midwest our range us from minus 20 to plus 110.

I've never personally owned Icelandics but I would love to have some, and based on everything I've read about them, including numerous comments by owners, they must be the hardiest chickens on earth, in either cold or heat. An example is the following quote about Icelandics from the Sand Hill Preservation Center in Calamus, Iowa: "An unbelievably hardy land race . . .They are superb layers of small to medium sized off-white eggs. Knowing Iceland's moderate maritime climate and that this breed had developed there for over a thousand years, I was fearful they would not handle the extremes of Iowa weather very well. I was first pleasantly surprised in the Winter when they handled -25 deg. F with ease. Then on that horrible July day with a heat index of 133 deg. F, I was afraid that when I reached their pen I would find them all dead. I was pleasantly surprised to see none dead even though there were massive losses (among other breeds) in adjoining pens. They are superb foragers with a most pleasant temperament. This is perhaps the ideal breed for someone who wants a diversity of color, but only wants one breed. They are not a terribly large chicken but are extremely feed efficient." http://www.sandhillpreservation.com/catalog/chickens.html#misc