All my bantams go broody in summer. I have Japs, Wyandottes & D'Uccles. They are all chronic. The bonus is while none of them lay a lot I am still getting eggs from my broodies in the middle of winter while everyone else is still moulting. IME, Japs are worse than D'Uccles for broodiness. All mine are super friendly ~ even broody they are not really people aggressive. Olivia, 1 of my D'Uccle frizzles is laying now, in the middle of our winter. Her sister isn't. Our Aracaunas are different & do have tails. I will see if I can get a snap of mine. She is not the easiest girl to photograph. I love my Campines but they are pretty wild & they are not the easiest hens to obtain here.Interesting. I’m ‘planning’ for new babies next spring. I need to buy fertilised eggs , having no rooster either.
The small dUccles crossed my mind too. They seem to be great company. But there are cons too (as always). The description says they get broody quit often, don’t lay much and not in winter. I love the characters of my Dutch too. Same pros, same cons.
But there are many more to choose from , even under 800 grams. The bantam Araucana crossed my mind too (green eggs) but they look strange having no tail.
With the HPAI troubles we have with chickens in the Netherlands, I prefer not to buy eggs anymore (no organic or free range available anymore) . For fresh eggs in winter was looking for a few bantams that are capable to lay all year. I tried that with my bantam RIR. But they are not such good layers as I hoped . And to my surprise I had a broody RIR that never seemed to stop. They are not very sociable either . These big ladies only come running to me for food. Besides I find them everything but elegant. They still wobble like chicks.
So maybe I just go for the friendly and intelligent character, buy more of these characters to compensate the egg quantities and light up the coop a few hours during the short winter nights. Dutch are easier to obtain over here. So chances are bigger to get Dutch.
Here she is!
This is Beatha, an Australian Aracauna. She lays a very pale blue egg. I get 3, or sometimes 4, eggs from her a week during her laying season.
This is Beatha, an Australian Aracauna. She lays a very pale blue egg. I get 3, or sometimes 4, eggs from her a week during her laying season.