Tell me about Bantam egg laying, please

[weesha81]

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So I think I made the cardinal mistake in chicken ownership - I didn't research the breed before jumping in.  I recently got 3 Dutch Bantam hens - I was told that they would lay about 4 eggs a week, each.  Since I live in the city, their small build seemed like a good idea, and I thought that a dozen eggs a week was plenty.


Well, I've since read that it's actually more like 1 egg per week, and that they are supposedly very small.  My friend told me her bantam eggs were the size of a quarter... 


I *do* want eggs - Now that I own chickens, I'd hate to have to still buy eggs, you know?  Oie...   I know that all hens are different, but I was hoping that you could share your own bantam egg stories with me.

hi ,
My bantam lays med. Size eggs, and we pretty much get 1 egg everyday ,diet depends hugely on size and quality of the eggs to not just breed.feed her good keep her happy and you will be suprised how many eggs 1 little bantam can provide. Hope this helps

 

[holm25]

I have 2 Cochin bantams and they lay 2-3 eggs per week. It is better than the standard Cochins!!

 

[theoldguy]

Dutch are great lil layers just give them time. They are smaller eggs just eat 2 instead of 1

 

[Hemera]

I did the very same thing, though I did do a lot of research into chicken breeds beforehand & went seeking the breed I liked, however it was an 'on the spot' decision to go with the bantam variant of this breed. Also like you, I thought only of the benefits of having a smaller chicken & gave no thought to how their size would affect egg size. They started laying a couple of weeks ago & the size of the first eggs came as quite a shock. They look like quail eggs OR those tiny solid chocolate Easter eggs you can get. Sooooo very cute, but when we said we'd celebrate the start of them laying with boiled eggs & soldier toast.... well arrrrhh, scrambled eggs will have to suffice.

Top Pic: Just over a week of laying compared to the top 3 standard eggs I had left from the supermarket. The two larger ones on the end turned out to be double yoked, interesting....
Bottom Pic: One standard egg broken in with the bantam ones for scrambled eggs. Guess which is the standard one?

 

[MESOFRUFFEH]

I only have two bantam hens out in my flock and I get 2 eggs a day from them sometimes, but usually at least one every day from the bantams. When my chickens all started getting sick a couple months ago, the only one that kept laying was one of my bantams. I guess partially it does depend on the breed, and yes their eggs are pretty small. One of mine lays eggs that are just a touch smaller than my standard hens. I sell our eggs, and I keep the bantam ones for our personal use. We don't eat a whole whole lot of eggs, but the two bantams produce enough that I don't really have to use any of the normal sized eggs when I do cook eggs.

I really don't know why I bought bantams other than I think they are adorable. I have one bantam that broke her leg that lives in the house right now until I get her a more secure outdoor area built and she has only laid about 10 eggs in her entire life. But I think her broken leg healing kinda delayed her laying, then she got diarrhea and that set her back again. But hopefully she will start laying again soon.

If you don't eat half a dozen eggs every morning, I think you would be just fine with the bantams laying, especially with 4 of them. I think 1 a week would be worse case scenario. Even when all my chickens were sick and stopped laying for several weeks, I was still getting at least one bantam egg a day. I have a tiny sebright mix looking bantam hen and she is the one that I believe lays the larger eggs of the two bantam hens, so don't let their body size fool you. Some of my standard size hens lay huge eggs, some lay eggs on the smaller side, and sometimes the bantam eggs are almost as big as the standard size eggs that are smaller, definitely larger than a quarter!

 

[rking2]

I bought 2 EE bantams the end of July - seller said they'd be laying within a couple weeks.. Suddenly, we're halfway through November & I haven't seen a single egg. Is this normal? I was hoping to not have to send my egg buyers elsewhere for the winter by adding these 2 hens, but instead, I'm just spending more money on feed & treats..They're not molting, there's no evidence of any eggs being eaten in the nesting boxes & they're not free ranging at all during the week.

 

[Jujubara]

Does anyone have a pic(s) of Cochin or Brahma banty eggs? I can't seem to figure out if mine are laying or not. I'm thinking not, but who knows. Also, I love my bantys. And so far our silkies lay quite well, although at less than a year they both went broody already!

 

[MESOFRUFFEH]

Does anyone have a pic(s) of Cochin or Brahma banty eggs? I can't seem to figure out if mine are laying or not. I'm thinking not, but who knows. Also, I love my bantys. And so far our silkies lay quite well, although at less than a year they both went broody already!

This is the only pic I could find on my phone of my brahma bantams egg (I am at work or else I'd take you one!)



Her is right in the middle. My cochin lays eggs the exact same size, but a more of a creamy white than tan color.

 

[Jujubara]

This is the only pic I could find on my phone of my brahma bantams egg (I am at work or else I'd take you one!) Her is right in the middle. My cochin lays eggs the exact same size, but a more of a creamy white than tan color.

Thank you. I think my Buff Brahma and Mottled Cochin are holding out. They're both about 9 months, so maybe when the days get a little longer.

 

[sdlittleton]

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Trying figure out what breed these little bantams. Any ideas??

They are 10 days old.