Nankin Bantams

[MROO]

Hi - and Welcome! Your ladies look very nice! How old are they?

With the pics you posted, their coloring looks pretty good. I can't tell if they have any "lacing" or patches, but it doesn't look like it. They have the light-chestnut coloring with the red head, their legs have the slate coloring and their tails are nice and dark. Those should be black, like your girls look to have, but that's sometimes hard to breed true. It's a good starting place!

Without any real scale or knowing how old they are, I can't really tell size, but they look about the size of my larger hen. I've been told by a breeder/judge that she is "correct," but a bit too big, so you may want to look for a smaller sized roo for your ladies.

I am by no means an expert, as we've only been to a few shows with ours, but what the judges look for varies a great deal by how familiar they are with the breed. Apparently they don't see them very often, if ever, so they tend to judge on coloring, first and type second. The one judge we've seen who really knew the breed was amazing, giving my daughter some really good breeding and conformation tips, but some of the local-show judges have never seen a Nankin. Because of that, we've seen a real swing of opinions on our own birds. In her first regular class, our slate-tailed hen took second to her black-tailed, larger sister, solely because of her coloring. At her next show, she placed Open Reserve Champion - so bear that in mind when you decide to breed and show. Read the standard. Look at your birds with a critical eye, and breed for what you like! Then, get them out there and seen!

Right now, the most important thing to do is to show them. Period. Get 'em out there and let people see what neat little birds they are. That's the best chance we have of saving the breed!

Oh - and keep in touch! A lot of people share a LOT of information here. It's a great forum!

 

[MROO]

Another bonus from the Fair - I have a home for one young pair, already. One of our 4H buddies really wants them. Actually, it's her Dad who wants them, but he won't admit it. She's leaving for college in the fall and he wants something to write back and forth about. It's cute! Another fellow from Southern Maryland wants to line-trade for a grown rooster, so we're getting them out there, finally!

I just passed along my first potential breeding pair! They went to a 4H "graduate" who still wants to keep her hand in. Her Dad is taking over while she's away at college ... and I honestly think that HE'S more excited than she is! It was really cool, and very exciting, ... but kinda sad, too. They were my first home-grown clutch (except for Evie and then Jacki, who were solos) Now I understand why parents equate their children's leaving the home to a bird leaving the nest. If this little knot of sadness is any indication of what I'll feel when my kids move out, I'm gonna be a BASKET CASE!

 

[Pioneerloft]

Hi - and Welcome! Your ladies look very nice! How old are they?

With the pics you posted, their coloring looks pretty good. , but it doesn't look like it. They have the light-chestnut coloring with the red head, their legs have the slate coloring and their tails are nice and dark. Those should be black, like your girls look to have, but that's sometimes hard to breed true. It's a good starting place!

Without any real scale or knowing how old they are, I can't really tell size, but they look about the size of my larger hen. I've been told by a breeder/judge that she is "correct," but a bit too big, so you may want to look for a smaller sized roo for your ladies.

I am by no means an expert, as we've only been to a few shows with ours, but what the judges look for varies a great deal by how familiar they are with the breed. Apparently they don't see them very often, if ever, so they tend to judge on coloring, first and type second. The one judge we've seen who really knew the breed was amazing, giving my daughter some really good breeding and conformation tips, but some of the local-show judges have never seen a Nankin. Because of that, we've seen a real swing of opinions on our own birds. In her first regular class, our slate-tailed hen took second to her black-tailed, larger sister, solely because of her coloring. At her next show, she placed Open Reserve Champion - so bear that in mind when you decide to breed and show. Read the standard. Look at your birds with a critical eye, and breed for what you like! Then, get them out there and seen!

Right now, the most important thing to do is to show them. Period. Get 'em out there and let people see what neat little birds they are. That's the best chance we have of saving the breed!

Oh - and keep in touch! A lot of people share a LOT of information here. It's a great forum!

They are around 4 to 4.5 months old. One hen is bigger than the other for sure. They are smaller than the Old English birds I seen at the fair, but not much.

Thank you for all the info.

Can you show me what you mean by this?

I can't tell if they have any "lacing" or patches

 

[MROO]

They are around 4 to 4.5 months old. One hen is bigger than the other for sure. They are smaller than the Old English birds I seen at the fair, but not much.

Thank you for all the info.

Can you show me what you mean by this?

I can't tell if they have any "lacing" or patches

Patchy just means uneven coloring. It's not a technical term, just my way of describing it. Picture the washy colors of a watercolor painting or a smudged chalk drawing. Lacing is an official color term. It's when there is outlining on individual feathers, like on a Wyandotte or Sebright chicken. In a Nankin you wouldn't see such obvious outlining, but you may see feathers that are lighter in the center, but a shade darker along the outer edges. It's not a huge issue, but when you look at your bird's overall coloring, you're looking for a nice, even tone. Your pics were a bit shady/blurry to show that much detail, but the first impression is very good.
Again, I don't want to pretend to be an expert at this, I'm just one of the more vocal breed proponents! IMO, for what it's worth - You have a nice pair of young ladies!

Where are you located? I'm in Maryland.

 

[MROO]

Left to right - Blue, Gimpy, Daffodil and Rosie. Jacki is sitting on the brooder off to the left side and Evie is sitting on the camera/phone ... on my hand ... which is why the pic is off-centered and blurry!
So, so far, so good, Thanks for checking!

Daffodil (aka Daffy - now confirmed a cockerel) and Rosie - a pullet went off to their new home this past weekend. The young lady who took them is a recently graduated 4Her who is heading off to college. She wants to keep her hand in and her father wants to stay connected with her through breeding Nankins. I think he's actually more excited than she is ... and she's thrilled! They've gone to a good home ... but I miss them already.

The other four are staying, for now. Jacki is trying very hard to crow, which makes him a "Jack," I guess. Evie is, thankfully, still Evie. She's shaping up into a nice looking pullet, despite being overly friendly and terribly spoiled. I'll try to get some new pics once Marching Band and State Fair are over.

We aren't taking birds to the State Fair, this year. We had planned on taking Sam (DD's BIS from the Cecil County Fair,) his brother Cuddles, and one pullet - Beauty, but we've had to rethink that plan. Our flock went into a hard molt three days after CC Fair. Between six roosters, we now have exactly ONE tail feather! With the roos and two broody hens out of commission and the four youngsters being too little to show, Beauty is the only one who is show-ready. She's really sweet, and very, very timid. She really wouldn't do well all by herself. We'll probably just go for the day and see what's there.

If anyone else out there is going, let me know. Maybe we can meet up in Timonium!

 

[artsyrobin]

Latest on my flock- so far looks like 3 cockerels and 4 pullets- but at 2 months i bet that changes lol I do have one crossbeak girl, mild and not a real issue, not sure how that relates to ideals breeding program, since in my experience that is genetic- so here a few pics - @MROO are cockerels darker than hens? One of my cockerels is lighter but the other two are darker

 

[MROO]

Pretty babies - despite being in that awkward teenage stage. I guess this is where the old line "A face only a mother could love" comes in! Mine just came out of that phase, but I actually miss it. Evie and her crew no longer look like chicks ... they look like tiny chickens.

To answer your question, coloring varies a bit from bird to bird, just like it does with people, but at this point it doesn't necessarily indicate male or female. Cockerels should eventually be darker than pullets, simply because of their natural, adult plumage. I wish it was that easy, though. It sure would make life simpler, wouldn't it?

So far, I've had two really pale birds - one of each gender. The pullet, Rosie, will stay in a breeding program, at least for now, but the rooster is really too off color to breed. Picture a true-to-color Nankin rooster with a "dilute" gene tossed in, like the genetic trigger that turns a chestnut horse into a palomino. Butterball (because that's what he resembles, being butter-yellow as a teenager) is more of a palomino-yellow than Nankin-chestnut, which begs a question, in my mind. In Chinese, "nankin" means yellow. I wonder if that was the old, original coloring. It certainly would explain the name.

Regardless, BB is going off to High School, next week... literally. He'll be part of an Ag Education program at our local tech school. I'm really excited about that, because it means that the kids there will learn about Nankins ... and hopefully some of the other endangered livestock breeds. That's pretty cool!

 

[artsyrobin]

interesting about the color, that would be interesting - what the original birds were, maybe lighter, he is the friendliest little guy and pushing to be alpha lol - they are the friendliest chicks, even being raised my a broody, that surprised me too. lol And yes, Yittel the crossbeak has a distinctive face lol

 

[MROO]

interesting about the color, that would be interesting - what the original birds were, maybe lighter, he is the friendliest little guy and pushing to be alpha lol - they are the friendliest chicks, even being raised my a broody, that surprised me too. lol And yes, Yittel the crossbeak has a distinctive face lol

Yittel - That's such a cute name! And by the "face only a mother could love" comment, I was thinking more along the lines of how straggly all chicks look when they're "teens." They remind me of adolescent boys who can't seem to get their hair to behave ... and swear that "It IS a mustache!" Between that and the feathers, legs and angles that simply don't match up, yet, ALL teenage chickens are pretty homely looking ... and I LOVE 'em!

Personally, I think Yittel is as cute as her name! That beak doesn't look bad enough to interfere with her eating or drinking, but I'd be leery of passing it along in a breeding program. Have you contacted Ideal about it? If it's a genetic thing (which is what all I've read points to,) maybe you can work out a credit, or get them to send a new chick or two. My guess is that they'll stand behind their birds. Most of the reputable hatcheries are pretty good about that.

 

[artsyrobin]

i may do that, i work alot with disabled birds, crossbeak group on facebook, it is most likely genetics, its a skull deformitiy, will keep shifting to about 4-6 months, but isn't severe, so i am not too concerned, hatching from her is a no go, but thats fine- they are at the gangly stage lol